Gjalp of Jotunheim
by Bittersweet Alchemist
Summary: Gjalp didn't expect to see the Bifrost open, or for the Asgardian prince to catch her eye while watching the fight. Nor did she expect to save his life. But what she really didn't expect was for him to turn blue at her touch! (T for partial nudity, swearing, and some violence)
1. Chapter 1

Gjalp sighed, leaning back on her rock.

She was bored.

Of course, this wasn't an uncommon event. Gjalp was often bored, as other witches often were too. Witches were creatures of action, motion and excitement.

Witches were a type of female jotun. They had the black hair that females had, though theirs was usually coarser and lacked the silky sheen others had. Their skin was a slightly darker shade of blue than the slightly gray coloration normal jotun possessed. Slight points adorned their ears, and the sharp edge of fangs was more obvious in witches than the common jotun. A witch's eyes had slitted pupils, spokes of orange fanning out into the ruby. Their legs were longer in comparison to their body, but they were shorter than the average jotun.

They _weren't,_ however, the smallest of the jotun.

What they _were_ was the best mothers, the nastiest of fighters, and the second-best magic-users.

Gjalp blinked, noticing a beam of golden light arching through the sky, shot through with streaks of rainbow colors, to touch down in the distance.

Hm.

Now, if stories her father and Gunnlod told her were true, that was the Bifrost.

Asgardians hadn't been to Jotunheim since the end of the war at the time of her birth. She was fairly certain that the fragile peace-treaty between their worlds _forbade_ it.

Curiosity peaked and edged with excitement at being able to _do_ something, Gjalp slipped off her rock.

Greip wouldn't notice if she wasn't home for dinner, right?

The young witch set off at a steady lope towards the site of the Bifrost-opening.


	2. Chapter 2

As she came to about where she'd thought the light had touched the earth, Gjalp saw footprints in the snow. Kneeling down, she paused to examine them.

One... two... six. Six sets of prints. One strode ahead, and four of the others seemed to follow at a slight distance. The final set seemed to bounce back and forth between long strides to keep up with the leader or walking midway between them and the other four. A quick glance told her that if they went directly straight, they'd arrive at the palace-ruins near Utgarda.

Pupils narrowing, Gjalp stole after the trail.

Following the footsteps, she at length heard the sounds of battle. As she'd suspected, it was at the palace, in the courtyard. Gjalp's pupils narrowed further, and flakes of ice fell from her claws in her excitement. Stride lengthening, the witch fell to all fours, bounding towards the noise.

Galloping up a small rise, Gjalp hid herself behind a pile of rubble. Just to be sure no one would spot her just yet, she laid a camouflage spell upon herself. It was similar to an invisibility spell, only she could still be spotted if one was _truly_ looking for her.

Placing a hand on the frost-whorled stones before her, Gjalp peered around her shelter to watch.

... Ugh.

That oafish prince from Asgard. Gunnlod had told her about him, a selfish, brutal warrior who reveled in blood and death.

 _He_ wasn't interesting at _all._

So Gjalp turned her gaze to the other fighters from Asgard. They were faring surprisingly well, she thought, given how laughably outnumbered they were. It was tempting to jump down into battle alongside her warrior brethren. They wouldn't question her— might even welcome her. Witches were excellent fighters from birth.

But before she could move, a flash in the corner of her eye drew Gjalp's attention.

Now, if Gunnlod's stories were true, that was the second Asgardian prince.

He was an impressive mage now, wasn't he? Whirling and flinging magic-composed daggers with deadly accuracy, coat flying out with his movements, Gjalp thought he looked like one of the dancers at coming-of-age-ceremonies. His projectiles shattered frozen shields and dispatched the jotun in a manner of refinement that the other fighters lacked. In fact, Gjalp had yet to see a single warrior come within ten feet of him. She smiled, slightly taken by his fighting style.

A larger warrior suddenly charged after her object of focus. She scowled in disapproval as he ran himself into a corner, teetering at the edge of the chasm the palace was built on. That didn't seem to match the character he'd built up until this point at—

Gjalp gave a surprised cry, rising to her knees as the warrior passed through the prince. He plunged into the shadows with threads of golden light around him. Her gaze darted about as the illusion was dismissed, searching for the prince. She found him sprinting away from his own heap of rubble. Grinning toothily, Gjalp settled back on her haunches to clap. Yes, he was the enemy, but his combat-strategy was simply beautiful! Relying not on physical strength or brute force, but wit and agility! Simply _gorgeous!_

"Don't let them touch you!"

Gjalp's eyes flickered to the Asgardian who'd yelled.

Ah.

They'd discovered the frostbite magic. That was nice.

Dammit, she'd lost the prince...

Gjalp shuffled closer to the edge of the rise, head snapping to and fro as she searched for him...

 _There!_

It looked like he'd just gotten out of his first up-close fight of the battle, from the fallen warrior at his feet. He was staring at his hand, turning it over and over. His back was to her, so she couldn't see his expression, but... did he look a little tense? Looking around, he hurried back to the fight.

The combat continued on for a while, with Gjalp beginning to shift on her haunches in readiness to fight when one of the Asgardians yelled, "Thor! We have to go _now!_ "

"So _go_!" the brutish prince bellowed back. He was grinning wildly, still whirling that hammer about. Gjalp spat in distaste. Such a reckless fighter, it was unattractive.

A rumbling suddenly tickled her feet as the Asgardians moved to flee. A familiar roar had her picking her head up.

That was a frost beast.

Curious to see how things would play out, Gjalp decided to run alongside the fleeing fighters. She kept both her distance and the pace, watching with thin pupils as they moved. It looked like one was badly injured, doing his best to move his feet but on the brink of death all the same.

"Aah!" she gasped as the ground shifted.

This was dangerous. This area was old, torn apart by age and the war. The ground was brittle and the ice easy to break. The heavy, powerful footfalls of the frost beast as it chased it's prey was doing just that. Under Gjalp's feet, ancient, fragile stone crumbled and weak ice shattered, making the terrain more difficult to maneuver, especially with the shifting snow hiding faults. The witch made sure to direct more attention to her feet so she wouldn't catch herself or fall.

Checking on the Asgardians, Gjalp lifted her head.

As she did, she saw a hole open up beneath the second prince, and he fell. Neither his fellows or the frost beast noticed.

Upon seeing pale hands clinging to the rocky edge, Gjalp's maternal instincts stirred. Skidding to a stop on the rough ground, she began to run back towards him. Quivering fingers slipped, a loud cry sounding, and she dove. Skin was scraped from her stomach, but she was more focused on the slight wrist and fistful of fabric she'd just managed to grab.

Upon being caught, the prince looked up in relief, but the expression quickly turned to fear.

"Let go!" he yelled, starting to squirm.

"Uh-uh." she said firmly, tightening her grip on him. The excitement of it all was showing physically on her, pupils wide and cheeks darkened, chest heaving as she hung over the edge of the small pit.

Swallowing, Gjalp began to pull on the prince. He struggled harder, prying at her fingers and snarling halfheartedly. She growled back in irritation. The stickiness of blood was starting to bead her torso as she shimmied backwards across the abrasive ground, but she ignored—

"Woah..." she breathed, pupils narrowing and then widening again.

His skin was turning blue at her touch, the same color as a jotun warrior. Green eyes swirled into red, staring at her and his hand in horror.

"... You're a dag... a jotun mage..." Gjalp breathed.

With renewed vigor, she pulled on him, hauling him up, out of the hole. In the end, he turned out to be struggling too much, so she knocked him out with a quick blow to the back of the neck. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell forward against her chest.

A flash made Gjalp turn her head.

... No...? Nothing...?

A few moments later, the Bifrost appeared again.

Her gaze wandered down to the Asgardian in her arms, cheek rubbing against her bare breast. His comrades had just abandoned him... or simply forgot. Either way, she could guess that they'd return for him.

... That all-seeing gate-keeper of the bridge was probably already looking for him.

Gjalp cast a net of invisibility over herself and the male in her arms, standing up.

No way did she want to give this prize up yet!


	3. Chapter 3

_"Where is Loki?! Didn't he leave with you?!" the princeling Thor demanded of his companions._

 _"Didn't he stay with you?" one of them asked in bewilderment._

 _"No, he ran with us, he was right behind me... I'm positive!"_

 _Laufey's eyes swept over the intruders. Odin had just requested the return of his second son so that they might leave, and cursory examination proved that the dark prince was indeed absent._

 _"Well, Allfather, I'll have my warriors search. If we find him, I'll be sure to send you his corpse." he sneered._

 _Thor growled, lifting his hammer up, but the Allfather silenced him with a growl of his own and a sharp glare._

 _"Laufey—"_

 _"It would be well within my rights to slay him, Odin. After your boy came to us, slaughtered our numbers, and openly declared war? I think a little retribution is in order."_

 _Behind the Asgardian king, Thor snarled, raising his arm. Odin snapped at him, making him fall sullenly silent._

 _"As you said, Laufey. These are the actions of a boy, and I wish for you to forgive them as such. Return Loki to us, and I will see to it that damages are repaired, by my own hand if needed."_

 _Laufey was quiet, glaring with narrowed eyes at the Allfather. If the prince was alive when they found him, perhaps a bargain could be arranged— the Odinson for the Casket._

 _"We will look, Odin, but I'm making no promises that it will be wholehearted. And if we do find him, do not be surprised if he is already dead from the cold." he finally sneered._

 _There wasn't much more to be said, and the Asgardians left._

 _Turning away, Laufey wondered if the wolves had died of starvation yet._

Of course, it wasn't like she could take him home to Gnipalund. Greip would have pups.

Then again, her sister had pups no matter what she did. And the sun had set not long ago. Gjalp had already missed supper, but Greip was used to her skipping meals in favor of fishing for shrieker eels in the icy waters of Vimur. They were dangerous predators, hard to catch, but Gjalp had made a bit of a hobby out of it. It was pretty decent meat, too.

But Greip was panicky, and coming home after sunset usually involved the whole community having helped search in order to appease the woman.

Gjalp looked down at the not-so-Asgardian cradled in her arms as she walked.

Where could she hide him?

He was about the same size as a jotun youngling, an adolescent. It was obvious he was a dag, because only dag males possessed that black hair. The other males were hairless. Dags and females were the only jotun with the raven locks.

Dags.

The smallest and weakest of the jotun, they were also known as the wisest and the most adept magic-users. Legends of the great sage Vafthruthnir, who served the third king Bergelmir, were popular among even warriors in Laufey's army, almost moreso than the stories of the great first king Ymir. Many of them held prestigious jobs in Utgarda and even the palace.

But how did this dag find himself on Asgard? He didn't seem to understand his own skin. How had he acquired such a pale hide anyway? What spell was it?

If she were to find _that_ out, then she'd need to hide him...

But _where?_

Then it hit her.

The bloodmoss cavern in the cliff alongside Vimur's bank. No one even knew it existed besides her and Gunnlod, but Gunnlod wouldn't be by again for months. It was also somewhat warmer there, which was probably better for the Asgardian. She couldn't keep his face buried in her shoulder the entire time.

Nodding to herself, Gjalp veered, beginning to head for the river.


	4. Chapter 4

_Laufey scowled._

 _The wolves keened unhappily, tails tucked between their legs as they circled._

 _Wolves were trained as trackers and hunters by the jotun. However, without the Casket of Winters, they were becoming rare, getting sick and dying easily. Not much deterred a pack once it'd found a scent. And the dark-furred beasts were not happy with what they'd found, circling in small, tight loops, casting him somewhat baleful looks between._

 _"A troll hasn't been nearby, has one?" one of his hunters asked worriedly._

 _"No, we would've known." Helblindi, Laufey's second son, frowned. "What else will put a wolf off besides a troll?"_

 _Laufey blinked, noticing small specks of dark, irregular ice on the stone ground. Pushing the wolves aside, he knelt down to examine them._

 _Blood._

 _Only small amounts, smears. They were directional, showing that the one bleeding had fallen towards this hole, then been dragged away..._

 _The Asgardian brat?_

 _... No. If that was the case, the blood would be more vivid, even after being frozen. Especially after being frozen, recalling the war. This blood was dark, indigo in color._

 _It was jotun blood._

 _Laufey stood._

 _"Wolves don't appreciate witches, do they?" he asked._

Bloodmoss was important. It served many medical uses.

But with the loss of the Casket, Gjalp was told it was becoming much harder to find. When it died out completely, the illness-rate would skyrocket, and many more would die young, from simple sicknesses. Infected wounds would also become a problem, and even the small scabs speck lying her stomach would potentially become a life-threatening wound.

Which was part of the reason why neither Gjalp or Gunnlod had told anyone about this cave.

It was warmer in the cave, uncomfortable but bearable. The bloodmoss grew in astounding quantities here, carpets sections of the floor and hanging from the ceiling and walls, deep maroon plush with tiny, feathery amber stalks. Whenever someone from Gnipalund desperately needed more bloodmoss than what they had, Gjalp was among the volunteers who went searching. She would tell everyone that she swam across Vimur and explored the mostly uncharted wilds there until she found some, and return with a handful of it. In reality, she was hiding out in the cave until she felt it'd been a decent amount of time.

If anyone were to find out about the cave, it would be stripped of all it's moss, and there wouldn't be any left.

So it was kept a secret between Gunnlod and Gjalp.

"Sorry, master, but I need it now." Gjalp muttered, holding the Asgardian prince to her shoulder as she used one hand to hold onto the cliff's edge. Digging her feet into the wall, she let go and grabbed ahold of a jutting rock, slipping down only a little. Swinging her legs, her toes encountered nothing. That was the cave-mouth. Gjalp dug her claws into the stone and started to kick her legs back and forth.

After some kicking, Gjalp let go of her handhold, and she was vaulted downwards into the cave, landing so that her knees were skinned.

Ignoring that, Gjalp noticed her charge starting to stir.

Frowning, she trotted further into the cave and laid him to rest on a sandy stretch of floor. Small flecks of crimson blood fell from his shoulder, and she saw the slightest tear in the fabric, his shoulder cut.

Huffing a bit, Gjalp went back to the cave-mouth and scooped up a handful of snow. As she returned to the cave, the immediate outer layer turned to slush and then water. Tearing up a small amount of bloodmoss, Gjalp crushed it between her fingers and then mixed it into the slush in her other hand. Content that it was mixed evenly throughout, Gjalp used her frostbite magic to refreeze the snow somewhat.

Kneeling down next to the prince, she went to apply the compress to his shoulder, but he sat up and lashed out with surprising speed. Gjalp snarled as his palm clapped painfully against her ear, and forced him down by a palm to the chest, making him gasp for breath a bit and his bones creak.

"Just _hold still_ , damn you." she growled gutturally.

"Why? So you can kill me?" he retorted.

"Why would I go through the trouble of saving your scrawny ass just to kill you? Woulda been easier to leave you in the hole, wouldn't it?"

He didn't answer, eyes darting about. Gjalp eased up a tiny bit on his chest and carefully applied the snow-and-moss compress to his shoulder.

"What is that?" he demanded, flinching away.

"Medicine. Your shoulder's cut and you've been left without treating it for who knows how long in a realm not technically yours." After a pause, she asked, "Do you want to risk it being horribly infected and potentially killing you?"

"As one of Laufey's workers, shouldn't that thrill you?"

Gjalp barked with laughter. "Laufey doesn't know I exist! I doubt he's ever traveled to Gnipalund, there's not much we have to offer the royal family besides the occasional fish or lump of metal ore!"

He looked confused, gaze traveling over the cave.

Gjalp reasoned that he thought this was one of Laufey's dungeons, and she was a torturer or the like. It made sense, in a way. He and his comrades had just attacked Jotunheim without warrant, so being left behind the way he was...

"Um... you are a jotun, right...?" he asked suddenly, making her blink.

"Do I look like an elf to you?" she replied, looking to his shoulder. The compress had melted to the shape of his skin by now, meaning she could take her hand away. Glancing at his chest, she saw that the natural coldness of her skin had cracked his clothing, leaving streaks of frost radiating out across his torso.

"No, but... you're a woman, and you look so different!"

She blinked.

Gjalp was about average in appearance, save her witch attributes. Her cheekbones were sharp and her hip and collarbones smooth and subtle. She was lean, with just the right amount of muscle, and she bore raised lines across her skin that told of her heritage, occasionally broken in their tracks by a scar. Normal women would grow their hair out into long, thick braids. Witches tended to cut theirs in bizarre ways. Gjalp was currently sporting an uneven, self-done cut that left her bangs hanging down to her shoulders, but the rest was left short, sticking up in every which way. Like all jotun, she wore nothing more than a simple leather bottom. Hers had a scraggly white fur ruff and careful beading done in orange that was starting to fall apart, a hand-me-down from her great-grandmother. Hers, unlike the skirts of other women, had slits up the sides that allowed her to move much better. Jotun would see that on a skirt and know it was a witch, even without seeing her own physical differences.

But his statement had stunned her a bit.

"... Do you not have women on Asgard?"

Now it was his turn to blink, and he hurried to say, "No! But we were always taught that the jotun had one gender!"

After a moment, Gjalp tilted her head. "So you think that King Laufey could potentially have kids?"

He said nothing, eyes settling on the cave-mouth.

Gjalp calmly moved between him and the opening, saying, "And of course I look different. I'm a witch, just like you're a dag."

Nose scrunching up a bit as he sat up, he looked to her in confusion.

"Dags," she repeated, "The smallest and weakest jotun, yet the most powerful of magic-users. Most of them hold prestigious positions in the capital."

"I'm _not_ a frost giant!" he yelled, leaping to his feet, the compress falling to the ground.

Gjalp leaped up as well, grabbing his wrists in her hand.

"Your _skin_ really begs to differ." she said coldly.


	5. Chapter 5

_"Thiazi, your daughter is a witch, right?" Laufey asked of the court-member._

 _The warrior and his two brothers looked up. "Yes, she is... Skadi..." the male in question replied._

 _"Has she been around lately?"_

 _"I don't believe so. Has something happened?"_

 _All three of the court-members had straightened up, looking to him. Thiazi, Idi and Gangr were the sons of the previous king's advisor. They served Laufey now as census-takers and treasurers. Gangr also served in his army._

 _"You've heard by now that we're searching for the second Asgardian prince?" Laufey inquired. All three nodded. "The wolves found his scent and followed it for a while, but then refused to go any further. We found jotun blood at the spot, and since witches will put the wolves off, it stands to reason that one has found and captured the princeling."_

 _Thiazi shook his head. "Skadi went off to live in the community at the pass in Hnitbjorg. She's been there for about seventy years now. I would've heard if she'd come out this way."_

 _Laufey frowned._

 _Witches were rare creatures. He only knew of Skadi because she'd gone on hunts with Helblindi before. Which meant that there was a witch somewhere near Utgarda that had found the Asgardian prince._

 _"If it isn't Skadi, then I need you three to do something for me."_

Gjalp hummed idly as the prince rambled on and on about how it wasn't possible, there was no way, his father would have an explanation for this, he was _not_ a jotun...

"He's even bitchier than Greip." she said aloud.

"What?"

Gjalp turned ruby eyes to look at him from where she sat in the cave-mouth. "I said you're bitchier than my sister with all this whining. Are all Asgardians so immature?"

His jaw dropped indignantly.

"And before you start, while I don't know your name, yes, I know who you are. I'm not very good at respecting authority." she drawled, turning her gaze back to Vimur below. The dark, icy waters rushed past, occasionally throwing up frothy waves. Across the river, veiled partly in mist, was the largely unexplored part of Jotunheim.

Almost every inch of Jotunheim had been mapped out and was on record at the royal palace. But the foggy, dark area across Vimur was not. No one knew what was over there. Most of those who went never came back. Even Gjalp, who occasionally swam across the river, never strayed into the mist, hugging the shoreline. All that could be seen was desolate and rocky, though some would claim to see things moving between huge monoliths. And in the dark of nighttime, like now, it took on an especially eerie quality...

"... Loki."

Blinking, Gjalp tore her gaze away from the river to look at her captive. "Hm?"

He scowled. "My name is Loki Odison."

After a moment, Gjalp shook her head. "I really don't think it is. Once whatever spell that is that's on you is removed, we'll be able to see your heritage-lines and find out who your real father is. It's inconvenient to have to touch you all the time to see them."

"I'm _not_ one of you!"

"Are you so sure?!" Gjalp yelled back, rising up to her knees in challenge.

"Yes!"

"Really?!"

"Yes!" Despite his answer, a flicker of doubt crossed his face. "Yes..." he echoed, sounding less sure of himself.

Gjalp sat back on her heels, pupils narrowed, as his resolve started to crumble.

"... No... It-it can't be... I don't really look like them, do I? And Father always favored Thor... And in the winter... No, it can't be! What did he do, chop open the womb of some poor woman at the end of the war?! Am I just a stolen relic to him?!"

Gjalp stood and moved over to him as his hands went to grip his hair, eyes wide and frantic, breath starting to come in short, hysterical gasps. With a low rumbling in her chest, she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into an embrace as a mother would a youngling.

Slowly, he calmed down, but his eyes were still wide and upset. Gjalp let her rumbling taper off into silence, slowly releasing him.

The blue in his skin faded away, bleeding out almost, and his ruby eyes turned back to green.

"... So then... everyone's been lying to me the whole time..." Loki said miserably.

"Have I lied once to you?" Gjalp scoffed, trotting back to her seat. The fog across the river shifted and swirled.

"You don't count, I've known you for all of five hours."

"Eight if you count the time while you were out."

"I don't."

Gjalp didn't answer.

It was quiet out tonight... Usually there was a cloud-strider soaring through the sky and singing his ballads by this point. She wondered if the bird had died. It wasn't unlikely. But she sort of hoped the thing was still alive somewhere. The long, low notes of the bird as it flew in circles over the flatlands had grown on her.

"What's that noise?"

Loki had come to stand over her, frowning out at the darkness. His head turned back and forth, and Gjalp was able to guess that his Asgardian eyes were weak and couldn't see as well in the gloom as the jotun.

Cocking her head, Gjalp listened too.

"... Shrieker eels. In the river below. Don't worry, they'll come to pass us. We're too high up for them to reach, and even if we weren't," Gjalp said, gradually raising her voice to be heard over the high-pitched racket, "I'd make short work of them!"

After several long minutes of ear-splitting agony, Gjalp occasionally yowling back at the eels as she and Loki covered their ears, the noise died down to a tolerable level.

"Usually they're only active in the early morning." she commented.

"What?" Loki asked.

"Shrieker eels. They tend to only be really active in the early morning, at dawn. But I guess with food running low for everyone, they need to keep moving... I hope they don't swim out to sea and stay in the deeps. Even as dangerous predators, they're an important food-supply for those of us living alongside rivers."

"... Are things really that bad?"

"I was born at the end of the war. I can remember it was at least livable back when I was still a youngling. But things deteriorated fast. Things have gone from bad to worse to terrible real quick, and we'll probably hit irreparable soon."

He said nothing, crouching down to stare into the darkness.


	6. Chapter 6

"You _fucker_!" Gjalp shrieked, pouncing on him.

She'd awoken to the sensation of a blade at her neck, only a spare inch of flinching saving her from her throat being slit. Loki had recoiled away from her as fast as he could, but Gjalp's long legs had tripped him up.

Which was what led to the current situation, Gjalp pinning him to the floor. Wisps of blue smoked through the air from her skin as she snarled, pupils shrunk down to their thinnest. His clothes froze and shattered under her palms, his skin changing to it's jotun form. She had one hand around his neck, the other pressing painfully into his stomach, making him squirm.

Gjalp watched in sick satisfaction as he struggled, cursing her.

"... Maybe I should hand you over to Laufey. Make life easier for all of us. And I bet your precious Allfather will be so eager to have you back, our king could negotiate his way into getting the Casket back. I might even be recommended as a suitor for Prince Byleister once I come of age. Witches are very good at having babies, and isn't that important as a royal?" she hissed in his ear. He instantly grew very still.

Slowly, Gjalp removed her hand from his stomach.

"The thing is, I don't like Byleister, and my sister has a suitor of her own... And I want to figure out this spell on you. If I present you to Laufey, I won't get that chance now, will I?"

Pupils widening just a tiny bit, Gjalp let Loki go, standing up. He rubbed at his neck, sitting warily up.

"But try that again, little prince," she warned, "And I'll chew your hand off. I'm a pretty decent healer, so you won't die, but you'll be horribly disfigured for the rest of your life."

Loki swallowed, nodding.

Huffing, Gjalp turned to examine the sky.

The previous night, the not-so-Asgardian had started to shiver and turn blue on his own. Gjalp had pulled him close, allowing him to turn into his jotun form. Due to both his size and the apparently necessary cuddling, Gjalp's maternal instincts had reared their stubborn head again. As a result, he had asked her to stop patting his shoulder five times, and she caught herself crooning at least thrice.

It was just after dawn now.

And Gjalp's stomach was roaring battlecries.

Listening carefully, the Asgardian prince's was too.

Of course, both of them missed dinner, unless she was mistaken.

"I'm going to see about getting us some food." she announced.

"Don't tell me you live in this hole."

"No. I live with my sister in the community downriver. Gnipalund. Didn't I tell you?" Thinking about something, Gjalp turned and pounced on Loki again. Grabbing his feet, she froze him to the cave-floor. "Stay put."

"Because I'm going _where_ like this?!"

"That's the idea."

With that, Gjalp dove off the edge of the cave-mouth, plunging down into the icy water of Vimur. The shock sent a tremor across her skin and through her bones. She was forced to blink several times as her eyes adjusted to the water. The strong current forced her to constantly keep moving. Gjalp swept her gaze from side to side as she swam upstream, searching for anything moving.

There!

Gjalp swam forward, snatching at the crab scuttling along the ground. Picking it up, she also found a stubborn water-weed that she wrapped around it's claws to keep it from snapping.

That was one thing.

Turning, Gjalp let the current sweep her downstream, only resisting enough that she could still see around her.

In the end, she caught two crabs and a hand-sized fish. It wasn't much, but it was food.

Climbing out of the river, Gjalp sighed, releasing some of her frostbite magic. The water clinging to her form froze and flaked off as she flexed. With breakfast in hand, she loped back downstream towards the cliff. If she'd woken up earlier, she might've caught a shrieker eel... only a shrieker eel would've woken her up by swimming by. So none had come by today.

 _Had_ they been going to the sea last night? Oh, she hoped not.

As she got to and climbed up the cliff, Gjalp found that Loki had freed one of his feet. It looked like he'd used a rock to chip away at the ice on his foot while carefully melting it at the same time with a small fire. Upon seeing her, he froze.

"Not much, but I found a bit." she announced, ignoring his shocked look. Coming over to sit crosslegged about four feet in front of him, Gjalp gestured idly, turning the remaining ice to snow. Then she presented the two crabs and the fish. "I don't know what you're used to in your plush royal life," she said, careful to sneer the description, "But this is how just about all us jotun get any food at all in our bellies, so if you whine too much, I'll beat you."

"... You were gone for two hours, and this is all you could find?" he asked softly as she picked up one of the crabs.

"This is about average. Ordinarily, I'd bring Greip and the rest of the community a shrieker eel or two for us to share, but they're apparently not here. Everyone's learning to make do with less food. I heard rumor that last year, Laufey and the entire court fasted for a month to make sure the children in the area had enough to eat."

With something of a sigh, a thoughtful look on his face, Loki carefully took the other crab. Gjalp had already killed hers, splitting it open and tearing into the meat with her fingers. She pretty much ignored him as he set about preparing his own.

The spell...

It was cancelled out by the touch of a jotun, and the reversal was sped up when frostbite magic was introduced. It disguised him practically perfectly. His skin was pale, his eyes emerald. No one questioned an Asgardian of his size. But she wanted to understand, maybe even break and reverse engineer it. If she could find a way... to break it... but first, she needed to understand it...

"You know," Loki murmured, drawing her attention, "You never told me your name."

"I am Gjalp. Witch of Gnipalund, daughter of Geirrodr, and descendant of Aurboda the Troll-killer."

"Pfft."

Her pupils narrowed.

"The frost giants believe in such things as trolls?" he snickered.

Slowly, Gjalp nodded. "You call us giants. But compared to many creatures here on Jotunheim, we are very, very _small_."


	7. Chapter 7

"Small? Jotun?" Loki said dubiously, seeming to turn that information over in his head as Gjalp swept up the crab-shell pieces. When her coming-of-age ceremony came, she could use them on her ornamentation rather than have Greip and the other women work themselves to the bone finding opalescent rock-slivers for her.

"Yes. That is why we tend to rely on magic a lot, and the army is always standing." she murmured. Picking up the fishbone, she added that to the pile of crab-shell. "You saw the frost beast that chased you. That was a domesticated one, slightly smaller than the wild variety. The shrieker eels once grew to be twice as long as I am tall. The wolves we have here come up to my waist and travel in packs of about fifteen. We train them as hunters, but their numbers are dropping also. The rocs will not hesitate to carry off unattended infants and toddling younglings. The fa are as tall as a warrior, with huge antlers and powerful muscles. We learned to domesticate those too, but their numbers are dropping like everything else."

"And you said that you fear trolls." Loki snorted.

Gjalp was quiet, bangs falling into her face as she looked at him.

His amusement died away.

"... Trolls," she began carefully, "Are huge, the size of the fa's ancestor, the mammut. Four times as tall as a warrior and five times as broad, they have long arms and powerful haunches, with long, greasy fur. Their faces are squashed in, their tusks sticking out all over the place. They have five eyes and small ears. Smarter ones will uproot trees and use them as clubs. They prey on jotun and anything else that moves. But the previous king, Laufey's father Farbauti, led a campaign shortly before the war started to wipe them out. He did not succeed, but he considerably cut down their numbers and drove them into the mountains. I am lucky to have never seen a live one... but... at the very end of the war, I'm told, Laufey left Queen Nal and their newborn son in the temple outside Utgarda for protection. When he returned, neither was to be found. Many were eager to blame it on the Asgardians, for their blood was everywhere, but the temple bore the damage of a troll. To this day, we don't know who got to them— Odin or the trolls."

Loki was quiet.

Sighing, Gjalp forced a shiver. Her pupils widened, tense muscles relaxing.

"Lie down." she ordered, pointing to the sandy floor.

"Why?!" he demanded.

"I want to take a look at the spell on your skin. It'll be easier for both of us if you're relaxed."

He seemed to go through a brief internal argument before lying hesitantly down. Gjalp sat crosslegged at his side, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Putting her hands out, palm-down and fingers splayed, she touched his chest and reached out for his magic with hers—

"Stop! What're you _doing?!_ " he yelled, thrashing when he felt her influence.

"Damn you! I'm looking for the spell! Stop resisting or you'll hurt us both, drift-brain!" she snarled back, quickly withdrawing. Just from that flailing, she could feel twinges of agony running along her jaw.

"No! I know that! But isn't that like giving a physical?!"

Gjalp stared.

"... It's not...?"

"... Asgardians are dumb as rocks." she decided, shaking her head. "Yes, spells have physical effects. But the spell itself isn't those effects. Spells like this are wrapped around the magic force that all beings possess. So you need to intermingle your magic in order to find such spells."

Looking curious and thoughtful, he laid still again for her. Gjalp waited, glaring at him, then sighed and began again. Her fingertips touched his chest, and she reached out once again. Keeping her eyes closed, Gjalp moved one hand up so that only two of her fingertips were touching his forehead. Her other palm pressed against his stomach.

As she'd thought, his magic was strong. Had he grown up in Jotunheim, she thought, he'd be saturated with it, oozing spells and arcanity from his ears. That was how strong this magic she was brushing with hers was.

Gjalp carefully ran her one hand down to his throat, adjusting how she was touching him with her other hand so that her fingers pointed to his feet.

There was something there... something not his...

With a loud hiss, she sucked in another breath, reaching out for it—

Gjalp was thrown back, hands clapping to her eyes with a scream. Her skull connected with the rocky floor, and she could feel her spine twisting as she writhed, trying her hardest to keep her eyes in their sockets, gut heaving. There was bile in her throat and everything felt _way too hot!_

 _"_ Hey! Are you alright?! Hey?!"

Hands ghosted over her stomach and shoulder. Coldness was left in their wake.

Slowly, Gjalp calmed. Her head still hurt, and not all of it was from the newly-made gash on the back of her skull.

Eventually, she opened up her eyes, removing her hands. Tears ran from her eyes, which was bad. They should've been freezing, creating icy ridges on her cheeks. That meant she was too hot.

Loki was hovering over her, eyes wide in shock.

"... Wh... what happened...?" he all but whispered.

"The spell on you... It's strong. And it doesn't want to be touched. It reacted to me leaping at it like a fool. If I want to understand it or get anywhere with it, I'll have to be a little calmer." she growled, voice rasping as she rolled over and moved on all fours to the cave-mouth. The ice of the outside air rolled over her, cooling her too-hot skin. A soft sigh left her.

"But if it's that dangerous..."

"I'm not giving up. I'll take a day or two to recover, but I'm going at it again." she said stubbornly, flexing her hands. They felt scalded, though there were no wounds. Spotting the doubtful expression on his face, Gjalp pulled out her black card, hissing, " _Don't you want to understand?!_ "

Slowly, Loki nodded.


	8. Chapter 8

_Laufey looked up as the brothers came in._

 _"And?" he asked._

 _"There's only one witch we were able to find who was close enough to have taken the Asgardian." Idi said._

 _"Geirrodr, one of your standing guard, from Gnipalund. His second daughter, called Gjalp. Sending a runner to the community, we found from her sister that she's been gone since the day before yesterday. The day the Asgardians came."_

 _Laufey didn't know whether to smirk or feel slightly concerned._

 _This was a witch, after all. If she was hiding, then finding her would be hard. Her magic and instincts would keep her hidden, and her fighting-skills would put off half his warriors. Wolves refused to track witches, and many of them would make a point of having several assorted niches to go to when they so pleased._

 _But they knew roughly where to look, didn't they?_

 _"... Fetch Geirrodr, Helblindi, Byleister, and three other warriors. Hraesvelgar is to be left in command while we are out." he ordered, straightening up._

Both Loki and Gjalp looked up at the sound of screaming.

"Stay!" she ordered, jumping up and bounding out of the cave, diving recklessly into the water. She missed the eel by a length.

It spun about to attack her as she surfaced for a brief moment. Taking a deep breath, Gjalp created blades of ice on her hands. The rushing of the current made them jagged and curved. Slicing through the water, Gjalp scored one blade down the eel's side. It screamed louder, slamming it's tail into her. The air whooshed out of her lungs in an explosion of bubbles, and water took it's place. Surfacing again, Gjalp threw the water up and gulped down air. On her back, miming armor, she made plates of ice that spiked and came to sharp points.

Taking a deep breath, she dove back under. The eel's huge jaws snapped shut where her hip had been, bubbles spiraling up to the surface. Twisting awkwardly, Gjalp kicked. She hit the eel's gills, making it roar in agony. Head down, she kicked again, but only hit once more before it began circling about her, out of her reach. Righting herself and letting out a tiny stream of air, Gjalp swam at the eel, lashing out with her frozen arm-blades. Just barely grazing it, the attack enraged it enough to turn about, huge maw opening wide.

Gjalp let it swallow her.

The spines of ice on her back pushed roughly through flesh, muscle, and bone.

The mouth around her spasmed, then stopped moving.

Running out of air, Gjalp pushed out of the eel and grabbed ahold of it. Pushing upwards, she burst through the surface. Gasping a bit, she looked up at the cave.

Loki was crouched in the cave-mouth, watching with wide eyes as dark blood dribbled down her face and chest, mingled with water. She grinned toothily, dragging the corpse behind her as she swam to the shore. Freezing off the water and blood, Gjalp broke off her blades and armor, shaking to brush any remaining flakes off. Grabbing the shrieker eel, slinging it over her shoulders, she climbed up the cliff.

"And you hunt these things for food?" the not-so-Asgardian demanded in shock.

Gjalp looked at the eel.

Shrieker eels were long and thin, yet covered in muscle. Their jaws were long and full of jagged teeth, and their guts could swell up to hold prey they swallowed whole. They were black and had a slightly gnarled look to them, their lidless eyes milky and staring. Their fins were brown, filmy and shot through with veins. They were known for their screams and gluttony. This one was smaller than the usual, but was still plenty big.

"... Well, not everyone can do it." she admitted. "To kill them, you have to destroy the gills or do it from the inside. My first time, the bastard actually swallowed me, and it took me several minutes to hack my way out of his gut. I was sick for a month afterwards. Their bite is pretty nasty. There are younglings who we've had to wrestle away from them, with teeth still stuck in their shoulders even after we've killed the eels. But I would get mad at my sister and run off so much that I eventually... well, just got good at it. I'm good at hunting and tracking, and Gunnlod taught me how to take care of myself since we witches tend to get hurt a lot."

To show him what she meant, Gjalp displayed her scabbed stomach and bruised side.

"Even though they're dangerous and hard to kill, though... they're a fair amount of food."

Now Gjalp looked long and hard at Loki.

Slowly, he said, "You said... that you would make an effort..."

Nodding, she added, "I've been gone for three days now."


	9. Chapter 9

"Surely there's another way."

Gjalp shook her head.

"There _has_ to be!"

She shook her head again.

Loki gave a noise of exasperation. "You can't leave me here?"

"You think I trust you?" she replied calmly, arms crossed over her chest.

"You'll be bringing me to my execution!"

"Not with an invisibility spell on you I won't."

"Come _on!_ "

" _Look,_ " Gjalp said fiercely, cutting off any more complaints, "My community will already be tearing up the place looking for me. If I don't check in, things will get out of hand. Chances are, the community food-store has started running low by now. If we go, bring this, I can say I've been hunting to stock up, and am going back out again. This would keep anyone from looking for me and therefore finding you before we can get everything straightened out!"

"It'd be easier if you just let me return to Asgard. The Allfather would be able to answer—"

"I said _fucking no._ "

Loki stopped talking, mouth clicking shut.

Nodding, Gjalp picked up the shrieker eel and tossed it over her shoulder. "Get on my back and cloak yourself. The rocks are icy and my legs are longer than yours."


	10. Chapter 10

_"Father!"_

 _A distressed female burst out of the home, throwing her arms around Geirrodr's shoulders._

 _"Father, Gjalp, she hasn't come back yet! You don't suppose she crossed Vimur again, do you?!" the woman worried, eyes wide and tearful as her chest heaved._

 _"I doubt it, Greip." the warrior replied grimly._

 _Laufey watched as the woman's eyes turned to him. Her worry seemed to double, gaze flickering about their party. "... Gjalp... has she done something wrong...?" she questioned of him, voice wobbling._

 _Choosing his words carefully, Laufey replied, "No. We merely have reason to believe that she found something of great importance, and wish to retrieve it."_

 _Before any of the community-members could do anything, Helblindi gave a jerk, stepping away from him and frowning._

 _"What is it?" Byleister asked._

 _"... Just now... I thought I saw a witch standing at the corner...?"_

Oh, that had been close.

"What is it?" Loki hissed.

"Can't you see?" she replied.

"... Is that... Laufey...?!"

"And his sons, no less. Since they're with my father and talking to my sister... damn, are they searching for me _already?_ " Gjalp cursed. "Okay, change of plans."

"Searching... you're not wanted, are you?"

"Not particularly. But if your Asgardian fellows want you back, I can guess that they'd strike up some sort of deal with—"

She fell silent, jumping to the roof of the home next to her as the warriors came to where they were. The two of them may have been layered with invisibility, but she didn't want to take any chances.

"Gjalp?" her father called, looking about and sounding rather testy. "Gjalp, if you're here, come out this instant, you understand?"

Yeah, she didn't have time for this.

Standing up, Gjalp moved carefully along the roof and jumped to the next dwelling. And the next. And the next.

Then she slipped down, back onto the ground, and bounded on all fours towards the food-store.

"Very not good at respecting authority," Loki commented as she slipped the eel into the meager supplies, "What had you been saying?"

"That your precious Allfather probably bribed Laufey to find you. But I still need to see about that spell, and who can guarantee how well Laufey'll treat you bargain or not." Gjalp said simply, giving him a moment to readjust himself on her back. "Which isn't to say that he's a bad king— You're just technically trespassing and could be considered a prisoner of war."

Loki was quiet. Hearing someone coming, Gjalp was grateful for that, and jumped up to cling to the rocky wall of the store.

It was the first prince, Byleister.

Gjalp held her breath, watching.

He was currently the most-vied for warrior among women. Tall, strong, fast and rugged-looking, he was a fighter and a member of court as the heir apparent. Gjalp personally preferred the second prince, Helblindi, but neither was particularly her type. She was honestly more interested in the dag of Laufey's court, Vafthruthnir.

Below, Byleister had found the faint scuff her jump had left in the snow. Gjalp uttered a mental curse— She'd been trying very hard _not_ to stand in the snow! For this exact reason!

The prince looked up. Gjalp could see the beginnings of a counter-spell on his lips, and hurriedly made an enormous amount of snow fall on and flatten him. As he struggled to stand, she pushed off from the wall, very carefully jumping onto his back and pushing him back down. Falling onto all fours, she bounded away, heading for Vimur.

"What're you doing?!" Loki demanded, his arms tightening around her neck.

"Escaping!" Gjalp replied. "Hold your breath!"

Loki didn't have time to respond as she dove into the river.


	11. Chapter 11

_Laufey frowned._

 _"Sorry, father. She took me by surprise, and was completely veiled the entire time." Byleister apologized, bowing his head._

 _"Nevermind. At least we know she was back, and which direction she went." he dismissed, eyeing the spaced, slightly broken trail left in the snow. She'd been moving on all fours, something only witches did any more. Laufey remembered watching Skadi during the hunt with Helblindi— Fast, agile and fierce, pouncing on the wild fa they'd been tracking and tearing it's throat open like a wolf, the long-legged all-fours bounding of hers had far outrun all his warriors._

 _This witch was heading for Vimur._

 _And she apparently was very displeased with the idea of being found._

 _Geirrodr had a confused look on his face, and his first daughter stood next to him with an equally concerned look._

 _"What is it?" Laufey asked._

 _"Gjalp. I mean... Milord, if you don't mind my asking..." Greip turned a timid eye towards him. "... What exactly is it that you think she has?"_

Loki coughed, spitting up lungfuls of water. Gjalp froze the water on her skin and flexed it off.

"... I suppose you better make a fire to warm up." she sighed in mild annoyance.

"What's with... that... attitude...?" Loki panted.

"We jotun can't tolerate fire well, drift-brain! It's already muggy and gross-feeling in this cave, a fire'll make it next to intolerable!" she snapped, stalking over to and crouching at the cave-mouth. "But it'll be bad if you get sick, so I don't have much of a choice!"

Loki was quiet, carefully pulling up dead bloodmoss and using his magic to light it on fire.

"... That phrase, drift-brain... what does it mean? I get that it's an insult, but..."

"Dumb, useless idiot. Pretty much, when a warrior dies, we'll scrape up his guts and brains from the snow so he's complete for the funeral. The insult has it's roots in the fact that certain warriors, such as traitors or the like, would be left, and their brains would get lost in a snow-drift." Gjalp explained, staring into the fog across Vimur.

As the heat of the dried-moss fire started to reach Gjalp, she put off more frostbite magic, creating a thin white film of crystals on her skin as blue wisps drifted into the air. The smell was... dizzying. Not in a sickening way, but a... drowsy one. Gjalp sidled more onto the ledge, letting the wind whip snowflakes against her cheek. The sky had clouded over and was dropping snowflakes down, and the cool sharpness of it all cleared her head.

"This smell... it's like the incense healers on Asgard burn. Only... stronger." Loki commented with a slight cough, waving a bit to clear the smoke some.

"Then the incense is probably derived from some weird bloodmoss derivative that you weirdos came up with after stealing some authentic stuff from us. I don't know squat about burning the stuff, but we occasionally mix it into teas. Helps children sleep. Greip forced that stuff down my throat so many times as a youngling." Gjalp declared, holding out a hand and creating patterns in the frost coating her skin. "Put it out! Your waving and shit is annoying, you're warm an' dry enough, yeah! Just use magic, you're powerful enough!"

Loki obeyed, coughing. Holding her breath, Gjalp stood up and jumped over him, to the back of the cave. Thrusting her palm out, she uttered a spell. A blast of wind pushed most of the heavy smoke out of the cave. Traces of the smell lingered, but not as cloyingly as before.

"Ugh. Note to self, don't burn bloodmoss. And that was dead stuff. Live stuff must be twenty times as strong." Gjalp muttered, putting off more of her magic. She almost lashed out when Loki touched her arm.

Blue crept over his skin, freezing the remaining water that was clinging to him, and he brushed it off. Gjalp waited patiently for him to finish before directing him to lie down in the sand again.

It was time for another go at that spell.


	12. Chapter 12

Gjalp frowned, moving her hands again.

"C'mon... any gap at all..." she growled. She was searching for a 'back door' to the spell on Loki. If she could find any weakness in the work at all, no matter how slight, she could start unraveling it. Because, as last time proved, just throwing herself at it had painful negative consequences. Immediate ones, at that.

Gunnlod had taught Gjalp that no matter the spell, there was always a weak link. There was always that one spot— That was where counter-spells came from.

She was just having trouble _finding_ the damn thing.

Feeling her lower arms grow worryingly hot, Gjalp broke the search off, rolling away from Loki to sit at the cave-mouth as she tried to put a layer of ice over her arms.

"Are you alright?" Loki asked.

"This spell... I've never seen his magic in action, but I wanna say it belongs to the Allfather. And it does not like me." Gjalp stated, frowning as her ice came slow and thin. It was just as well that she'd waited before trying again. Both times that she'd attempted at the spell, her body had become heated beyond what was okay. The first time, it'd been full-body. Now, while she was uncomfortably hot, it was centered around her arms.

That meant this spell had the potential to kill her.

She forced a shiver. Her body relaxed and her pupils widened. The heat drained out of her faster, and she suddenly felt very dizzy. It was probably the temperature fluctuation going up and down within her body, making her feel nauseated.

" _Ugh_..."

"Gjalp?"

"Hrm."

"... Where do you think he took me from?"

Gjalp looked to Loki. She knew what he meant. She was just a little surprised that he was finally asking. His doubts seemed to be growing and growing...

Turning back to Vimur, Gjalp stared thoughtfully into the fog.

"... You're the same age as me, born right around the end of the war. So... if my father's war-stories are correct... that would mean you're from the area in the capital, Utgarda. Odin spent most of his last days on Jotunheim laying siege to the capital. Utgarda has the second-highest population here on Jotunheim, beaten only by Grotti, a trading-city to the west of here. So it stands to reason that your parentage was from Utgarda..."

Turning to Loki, Gjalp instructed, "Take off your coat, roll up your left sleeve, and gimme your arm."

Confusion written out across his face, Loki obeyed. Gjalp took ahold of his wrist, watching carefully, pupils narrowed, as his heritage lines rose up.

"Um... what're you doing?" Loki asked.

"Heritage lines are unique from jotun to jotun. They can tell at birth if you're a warrior, witch or dag by the lines on the back of your neck. The ones on your legs are mostly only prominent in nobles— We commoners wear ours down through work, and our heritage lines in general are much simpler than those of... well, like you, apparently."

To demonstrate, Gjalp held her arm alongside his. The ridges on her skin were more angular than his, in part because she was a witch, but also due to her lineage. Her patterns were simple and easily reproducible by dragging fingers through snow. The broken line flanked by two that waved slightly marked her as Aurboda's descendant, running down from her shoulder all the way to her wrist. On the back of her hand was a trio of circles, each one smaller and set inside a larger, touching the edges next to her knuckles together.

His were far more elaborate. Gjalp's lines were a youngling's pattern in the snow, but his were those of an artisan. They spiraled, circled and overlapped. There was a starburst of lines on his shoulder, accented with raised dots, and he was very well-adorned.

"So... we know you come from a pretty good family..." Gjalp murmured, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at his skin.

"Can you tell whose? Is it bad?"

"... It's awfully familiar. Like I've seen it recently. But I just can't place it." she admitted, letting him go.


	13. Chapter 13

_Laufey looked out over Vimur._

 _The witch Gjalp had doven in._

 _So_ had _she crossed the river? Was the young witch living in the fog over there, creeping from monolith to monolith like the shadowy beasts so many claimed to see?_

 _No._

 _With a creature as weak as an Asgardian to care for, that was too big of a risk._

 _No, she'd be on this side. And her diving into the rushing water suggested that wherever she was hiding, it was close to the water. According to the community, there was a shrieker eel in the food-supply that hadn't been before._

 _Laufey looked down to the churning water at his feet._

 _Gjalp was on the river._

 _Turning, he called to his party._

"Why're you saving those things, anyway?" Loki asked as Gjalp added the fresh bones and shell-pieces to her pile.

"For my coming-of-age ceremony. When the ceremonies come around, every jotun who is coming of age is recognized at Utgarda. Those being recognized will typically be decorated with all sorts of things. When Greip came of age, we used roc-feathers and scraps of old fishing-nets to decorate her. Everyone in the village worked hard to find slivers of precious stone from the quarry nearby to give her. Afterwards, Greip gave the stones to Helblindi, the second prince, who was coming of age alongside her. It's tradition to exchange such things at the ceremony." Picking up one of the shells, she turned to Loki. "I don't want everyone to work themselves to the bone for me when it's hard enough as it is for them to get by. I decided to decorate myself. I have plenty of other things stashed away at home to work with."

Loki nodded, seeming to process this.

Then he asked, "What actually happens when you come of age?"

"Not much. You're formally acknowledged as an adult, no longer an adolescent. You can court properly. Those who are firstborns become eligible for any inheritances coming their way. A few more job-opportunities open up. Warriors can enroll in Laufey's army if they so choose. But in the ancient times, there was a lot more meaning behind it, most of which is lost. The tradition still carries on, though." Gjalp shrugged.

He nodded.

"... Does that mean your sister was seeking to court the prince?"

"Nah. Her suitor lives in a community near Muspelheim— The geyser fields. His name is Surtr, and he's one of the very few smithies we have. I suppose I can see the appeal he has. He's big, but then again he's descended from Skymir, the largest of warriors. He's good with his hands and takes care of his home. But I think he's a bit of a—"

"Drift-brain?" Loki asked in amusement.

"I was gonna say mammut-turd, but that works too." Gjalp shrugged.

"Then who are you into?"

"There's a dag youngling in Laufey's court. His father is Hraesvelgr, and he was named after a servant of the third king Bergelmir. Vafthruthnir was a great and powerful sage, a dag who was said to be able to trick day into becoming night with his magic. This youngling is named after him. I only met him once. He's plenty smart, though really timid, and has to have help with a lot of the things he does because his leg is twisted. He's half my age, though. Still a youngling."

"... Bergelmir...?"

Gjalp got the feeling that Asgardians were only ever taught things about their own culture. Jotunheim was rather secluded from every other realm, but stories were told to younglings about other places, namely Asgard.

"Gunnlod taught me that in the beginning, jotun were a lot like trolls. But we gave up our immense size and sheer brutal strength to learn magic and trade, while the trolls gave up sentience to become larger and fiercer. But the first jotun were divided, and often fought amongst themselves. They were torn by war and power-struggles until the first king, Ymir, united them all under a single rule, and gave each community a voice through his court. His son, Thrudgelmir, established more defined laws, protecting the rights of weaker castes and jotun. Thrudgelmir's son, Bergelmir, stopped the killing of younglings who were 'different' and malformed at birth. Because of this, the wise dag Vafthruthnir swore allegiance to him, and together they forged much of the jotun society we have today." Gjalp explained.

Loki shook his head in amazement. "Wh... what king is Laufey?"

"The eighth, if I recall correctly."

"... We're only taught back to Buri, Odin's grandfather..."

"That's because Asgardians are weird and dumb as rocks." Gjalp declared.

As she went to sit at the cave-mouth, Loki came to kneel down across from her. Following her gaze, he looked down to the dark waters of Vimur, the air starting to become dusky as the sun went down.

"... What are jotun taught about the war?"

The question took Gjalp by surprise. She blinked several times, processing the question.

Eventually, she answered, "The previous king, Farbauti. His census-taker, Olvadi, informed him that the population was growing too quickly for this realm to support it. So as he lay on his deathbed, he presented his only child, Prince Laufey, with the Casket of Winters, and ordered him to use it to ensure Jotunheim's survival. By this, he meant lay siege to Midgard, freeze it over, and make it a second Jotunheim for the surplus population.

"Gunnlod tells me that Laufey at first refused. But then a Midgardian mage by the name of Thijalfi brought a party of his comrades here using magic. Together, they killed the younglings of a poor farmer, who then went to Laufey for aid when the group attacked his community as well. In his outrage, Laufey fulfilled Farbauti's dying command. The place where Thijalfi came from was obliterated, and Laufey began to seek out the ones who came with him when Odin appeared.

"Jotunheim's army was chased back here. The war lasted several centuries, claiming the lives of many and destroying much of our realm. When Laufey finally surrendered, Odin stripped us of the Casket and left."

Gjalp gave a grim, crooked smile. "But the population is no longer unbearable, and hardly grows at all."


	14. Chapter 14

_A runner came skidding up to them, sides heaving and face dark._

 _"Catch your breath." Laufey ordered as he attempted to stutter out his message._

 _Nodding, the runner took a moment to pant and gasp. Once the flush on his face had faded somewhat, he stood up and spoke._

 _"Hraesvelgr sent me— The Allfather, his son, and a small party of warriors have arrived at the palace! They're demanding to search alongside you!"_

 _Laufey's eyes narrowed, and he heard Byleister growl unpleasantly._

 _"... Go tell them that we'll be along." he decided at length._

 _Damn._

 _Damn!_

 _Now what?!_

"Gjalp...?"

The witch growled, nose twitching.

"Hey, Gjalp!"

"Quiet, Greip..."

There was a sharp clap to her ear, making her leap up with a savage snarl. Loki rolled away, assuming a defensive position some distance away.

" _Damn_ you! That hurts!" Gjalp spat, putting her hand up, touching her fingertips to her ear.

"Sorry, but you're heavy!"

That was right. After Loki had fallen asleep last night, Gjalp had noticed his shivering and pale fingertips. While he was apparently resistant to Jotunheim's cold, the night became too cold even for him, so the witch had wrapped herself around him. This had allowed his jotun skin to take over.

"Well, my ears are _sen-si-tive_ , so I'd appreciate no more clapping from here on out!"

"Then just don't sleep on me!"

" _Fine_ , next time the drift-brain starts turning blue on his own I'll _let_ him become an ice-block!"

Loki didn't have a response to that. Gjalp gave a triumphant huff, turning to glare at the bloodmoss.

But that didn't work. She was all fired up now, and ready to fight.

Spinning on her heel, Gjalp let out a roar and punched the cave-wall. Loki jumped as stone splinters flew away from her fist, and dust came down from the ceiling in a fine, gritty shower.

Pulling her fist away from the newly-made crater, Gjalp examined her knuckles. The skin on them was torn and shredded, indigo blood running down her hand and arm, a lot of it following her heritage-lines. Small pieces of gravel clung to the gore. Giving her hand a shake, Gjalp flexed her fingers. The punch had made them stiff and sore-feeling. It'd be hurting for a while, but heal just fine.

"... Um..."

Whipping around, Gjalp bared her teeth at the not-so-Asgardian. He fell silent, looking away.

It was no use.

Startling Loki, Gjalp dove out of the cave, into Vimur, and swam across.

Shaking herself off but not freezing the water, Gjalp scrabbled up and over boulders. She occasionally glanced back to make sure she could still see the river, heading into the fog. Rocks and frost crunched underfoot as she moved. Shivers began to claim her, the fog clammy and the leftover water dripping down her back not helping.

But this was working.

Even _she_ was scared of what might be over here. And that was chasing away her anger.

As she turned to head back, something caught her eye.

At the same time, something _moved._

Darting back, Gjalp scooped up her find. Then she ran.

With her speed, she reached Vimur fairly fast. Diving in, Gjalp swam as fast as she could. Not paying enough attention to where she was going, she wound up headbutting the cliff. Panting, she looked back.

Nothing.

Sighing, she looked up. Loki was looking down at her, eyes wide.

With a slight grunt, Gjalp started clambering up the cliffside.


	15. Chapter 15

_A splash drew all of their attention._

 _"What was that?" one of the Asgardians asked._

 _Laufey was glad that Geirrodr shushed him, because he was just about ready to murder these Asgardian nitwits._

 _Instead, he stared at Vimur._

 _A black-haired head emerged, and long limbs propelled a lithe body across the dark, frothing waters from the far side. Colliding clumsily with a cliff, the witch spun about to look back at the foggy far bank._

 _Seeming to be content that nothing was following her, she began to scale the cliffside._

 _Laufey gestured, and his party followed him over to the cliff. The Asgardians had to move faster to keep up._

 _Standing at the edge, Laufey looked down._

 _The witch paused, eyes narrowing. Visibly huffing, she climbed up so she could jump onto the ground next to him._

After shushing Loki and making sure he was staying in the cave, Gjalp scaled the rest of the cliff.

"Gjalp!" her father exclaimed.

"Hello. I wasn't aware that my going missing warrants an alliance between us and Asgard. I'm not secretly half-Asgardian, am I, father?" she drawled, tossing her find back and forth between her hands.

"What's that?" Byleister asked.

Gjalp tossed it to him.

It was the same type of opalescent stone that jotun would decorate their children with at coming-of-age ceremonies, a fist-sized chunk of it.

"Found it over there. Maybe there's more. Who knows how many dying resources are actually super-abundant over there." she shrugged, casting an evil eye over the Asgardians. "So why are these drift-brains here?"

"We're looking for Loki!" the prince barked, resulting in him being scolded by the Allfather.

Laufey nodded. "The Asgardian you've been keeping."

"I have no Asgardian. What use have I of such a thing?"

"Gjalp!" her father barked. She snarled back, resulting in most of the warriors stepping back. "Gjalp, where is he?"

"Who?" she shot back, ice flaking from her claws and pupils narrowing.

"Please," the Allfather said, drawing her attention, "Return my son to me."

"I have no son of yours!"

Laufey snarled, grabbing ahold of her shoulder. Putting his face close to hers, he growled, "Stop telling lies, youngling, and tell us _where he is!_ "

"I have told _not one_ lie thusfar!" Gjalp roared, swinging her claws upwards. The Asgardians gasped, Laufey only just dodging her attack. "How dare you accuse me of lies, knowing _nothing_ of me!"

Laufey roared back, and Gjalp snapped her wrists, growing out long blades of ice. She was aware of the surrounding warriors creating their own weapons, and the Asgardians watching with bated breath.

Laufey closed his eyes and took a deep breath, standing away from her.

"Do you know of a man called Loki." he tried, voice flat.

"... Yes." Gjalp huffed. No use in hiding it now.

"Where."

Gjalp chewed on her cheek.

Sighing, she made a gesture indicating that they should wait. Then she walked over to the cliff-edge. Breaking off her blades, she began to scale down the rocky face. Loki was waiting for her, confusion and concern written across his face.

"People. Come on." she said shortly, turning to allow him onto her back.

"Oh... then... You're giving me up?"

"I said no such thing. Just that there are people." she snapped, feeling him climb onto her shoulders. Standing up, she left the cave and climbed up the cliff.


	16. Chapter 16

"Loki!" most of the Asgardians yelled.

He did nothing, even after climbing down from her shoulders. Just stood uncertainly next to her.

"Loki, brother, what's wrong?" the first prince asked with a worried frown. Everyone looked confused.

" _Damn_ you, drift-brain. After _all that fuss_ that I send you back, you cling to me like a parasite." Gjalp said with a slight growl, rolling her eyes.

"Sorry." he apologized with a weak shrug.

"Loki, come." the Allfather beckoned.

"... Aren't you forgetting something?"

Now everyone became more confused. Gjalp tilted her head.

"Tell me, _Father,_ " Loki said with a slight sneer, "Who am I _really?_ "

All eyes went to Odin, who replied, "You are my son."

" _Stop lying to me!_ "

"He's right," Gjalp said, voice rough, "I'm curious as well. He's not your son, and he's not Asgardian, though the spell of yours certainly does a good job disguising it."

Nothing was said, everyone waiting tensely for someone to boldly break the silence.

It was one of the Asgardians who finally did, one of the ones Gjalp had seen fighting.

"Loki, what... what are you saying? The cold's apparently addled your brain. You're the Allfather's son, and our prince."

A dry, almost high-pitched laugh left Loki as he shook his head. "No, no, you see, I'm really not. Where did you find me? Or did you rip me from some dying woman's arms as you left Utgarda? Cut me from her womb? _Tell me_ , why don't you?!" Loki challenged, glaring at the Allfather with tears glistening in his eyes.

The warriors had started to murmur between themselves, and Laufey had inclined his head, eyes narrowed.

With a sigh, the Allfather seemed to age infinitely more.

"I found you, abandoned—"

"Chances are he wasn't, you daft fool! No jotun would ever be so cruel to their child, and those that would are locked away and punished!" Gjalp snarled, cutting him off. Her father hissed, glaring.

"Allfather..." Laufey growled warningly.

Gathering himself up, Odin announced, "Loki is not my son. He is jotun. Laufeyson."


	17. Chapter 17

Gjalp was still quivering furiously.

It made sense now, why she recognized the lines on Loki's arm. Because he was the third prince, who was lost at the end of the war. Damn Odin!

Surprisingly, she had been the first to react to the news, rather than Laufey or Loki or the Asgardian prince whose name she finally learned was Thor. Launching herself at the Allfather, shrieking and cursing, she had been intending to at least horribly maim him. Damn bastard was lucky there were those not looking for a war had been present, though it'd mostly been Laufey dragging her away. Gjalp was pleased to note that she had at least landed a scratch along the old fool's jaw before she was forced to stop.

Because Odin had been on the brink of Odinsleep, the resulting discussion from his statement had been moved to Asgard. Laufey, his two eldest, Loki, Thor, Thor's friends, Queen Frigga, and Odin would hold the counsel. Gjalp technically wasn't even supposed to be there. The only reason she was was that Loki insisted she be present.

She was currently tuning out the arguments being held, pacing and prowling near the wall. If she listened, she'd get pissed, kill someone, and start a war.

Finally, she got tired of it.

A loud roar left her, accented by the crackling of frost-crystals spreading across the floor at her feet.

Everyone was silent. The guards stationed around the room had gone on edge, glaring at her.

"... Why?" Loki said, voice soft as he stared downwards.

"I had thought you could secure a more permanent peace between our realms. But I suppose it doesn't matter now." Odin replied, voice heavy.

"Okay, you shut the fuck up! I don't like you! I'm gunna chew yer throat out and drag yer innards all across the flatlands 'fore I throw yer corpse inta Ginningagap!" Gjalp roared, slamming her already-injured fist into the wall next to her. The guards started drawing weapons.

"Hush." Laufey ordered, glaring at her, though his fist was clenched as well.

There was another stretch of silence.

"Loki," Laufey finally started, "Does not belong on Asgard. He needs to come home, to Jotunheim."

"Wasn't he abandoned for being a runt?" one of the Asgardian warriors drawled.

"He is a dag, just as I am a witch. He is a breed of jotun known for magical and intellectual prowess. _No one_ would _dare_ abandon _any_ youngling, let alone a _dag!"_ Gjalp snarled. "Are Asgardians really so cruel to their younglings?!"

They were silent.

"... I agree." Loki said softly.

"Loki!" Thor exclaimed.

"Are you certain?" Frigga asked, looking worried.

Gjalp blinked, her enraged mind taking a minute to process what had just transpired.

"I-I-I mean, it's not like I belong here! _Everyone_ hates me, and I was raised— I was _taught_ that the frost giants are _beasts_ , _brutes_ and _savages!_ Now, now I find... I find that I _am_ one? I'm a jotun? That you've _lied_ to me my _whole life?!_ " Loki was screaming, standing up with tears glistening on his cheeks.

Maternal instincts kicking in, Gjalp bounded forward, wrapping him up in a gentle embrace. Crooning quietly, she started stroking his hair and rocking him back and forth. He calmed slowly down. Nodding in satisfaction, Gjalp released him and backed away again, falling into a crouch in one of the room's shadowy corners.

"Definitely a witch." she heard Byleister comment.

There was more discussion, but Gjalp wound up tuning it out and pacing again.

Finally, some form of agreement was reached. Here, she tuned back in.

Loki would be staying on Jotunheim for a week, retaining the spell that was on him. At the end of the week, he would return to Asgard with a final decision— Where would he live as prince? After that, another counsel would be held, like this one, to discuss a treaty formulated around Loki's choice.

Gjalp tilted her head, wondering if this meant her excitement was going to go away now and it'd be back to boredom.


	18. Chapter 18

"... and we were all _worried!_ You were _missing_ for almost a _week_ , Gjalp! For Ymir's sake, _King Laufey_ came to our home!"

Gjalp rolled her eyes for what had to be the millionth time that day.

Ever since she'd returned to Gnipalund, the entire community had been all over her. It was annoying, honestly. She was just about ready to start rolling heads.

Tuning Greip's lecture out, she focused on the rope in her hands. She was working on the ornamentation for her coming-of-age ceremony. It wasn't that far off. So it was just as well that she had these shells and bones, she had plenty of material to work with. In addition, it turned out that Greip had saved her roc-feathers, but Gjalp wasn't certain how to work those in just yet.

After an agreement had been reached, Loki had collected a few of his personal items, and the jotun left for their realm. Upon arrival, Gjalp had left. She wasn't good with goodbyes, and there wasn't exactly a point to her hanging around at the moment. Swinging by the cave, she picked up the scraps for her decoration, and then swam home.

But perhaps she should've just _stayed_ at the cave for a while longer...

"Gjalp, don't ignore me! Gjalp! _Gjalp_ , will you _listen?!_ " Greip half-yelled.

She didn't answer, choosing to annoy Greip instead.

But before her sister could go off on her again, there was a call at the entrance of their home. Sighing in resignation, Greip left her to her work.

Not for long.

"Gjalp..."

"Would you just shut it? _Nagging_ isn't an attractive quality, sister dear!" Gjalp growled.

"I'm _not_ nagging!"

"It's good to see you again too."

Recognizing that voice, the witch turned to see the visitor.

Loki stood next to Greip, a look of amusement on his face.

"... Wasn't expecting you." she admitted, pushing herself up to her feet.

He smiled. "No, I wouldn't think so." A serious look coming over his face, Loki inclined his head and asked, "Could I trouble you for a walk?"

Gjalp shrugged, and followed him out of the dim home into the light outside.

She kept her pace short and slow so he could keep up as they strolled through the community, heading towards Vimur. Younglings would stop and stare as they passed, and Gjalp was well-aware of conversations stopping and starting as they approached and left, respectively. Between them, however, nothing was exchanged until they'd reached the riverbank.

"So, how're you finding your new family?" Gjalp drawled, reaching her hands up behind her head.

Loki shrugged. "Helblindi in particular is very attached to me. Laufey said that he was quite possibly the most devastated when I went missing. And speaking of Laufey, he... he seems to be a much nicer parent than I would've imagined. He's so... gentle."

"He's a good warrior. I don't know much about him personally, but the rumors and stories I hear make him sound much better than the previous two kings."

They were quiet for another minute. Gjalp kicked a rock so that it sank into Vimur with a splash lost in the water's rush.

"And you, you seem different than the stressed-out creature in my cave." she commented.

"I suppose I am," Loki sighed, "I was scared, confused, and cornered by what I thought to be the enemy. Everything I knew was coming down around my ears. But now things are making a bit more sense, and so I'm not as flustered."

That made sense. Thinking back, even while they were on Asgard in counsel, he'd seemed a bit different. Before that, too, just barely, when they were still at the cliff and he was challenging Odin. Gjalp nodded absently.

"But I didn't merely come to speak pleasantries with you."

Ah-hah.

Turning to her with a serious expression, Loki said, "Since you and I already have history together, I would like to keep you close. I trust you, I suppose, and feel that I'll be able to learn most of what I truly need to faster if it's through you. In addition, I'd like you to keep working at the spell."

Gjalp blinked, turning over what he'd said in her mind.

Crossing her arms over her bare chest, spreading her legs to shoulder-width, she asked, "And what does _that_ mean?" with narrowed pupils.

"I'm already fairly certain that I'll be choosing to stay here on Jotunheim. It is where I belong, after all. So I won't need this skin, will I?"

Her pupils slid further open. Instantly, a question bubbled to being in her mind.

"Do you not _trust_ that old geezer to fully take it off?"

Loki blinked now, looking a tad confusing. With an almost defeated sigh, he shrugged. "I don't know. Perhaps."

Gjalp turned to look at the river. It hurried past, swirling and frothing.

So maybe the excitement wasn't over yet.


	19. Chapter 19

**To the guest reader called jaquelinelittle:**

 **Please don't tell me how to write my stories when you aren't even signing in.**

 **However, you did bring up a few points that now I'm going to explain...**

 **Gjalp is the same age as Loki— technically an adult. But if you pay attention to her explaining the coming-of-age ceremony to him, she's not yet formally recognized as one. It's like getting a license or something— you're old enough, but you have to go through the jazz of getting it. Gjalp is a young adult, but until the ceremony happens, she is considered an adolescent by tradition.**

 **And the eel-hunting. Gjalp explained to Loki that she would go out often, and made many blunders when she first started out. I didn't just give her a magical gift for hunting. It's experience she gathered up over years of doing it, and she admits that she isn't the best in the world. In addition, most of the jotun have no choice but to learn how to hunt in this story— there's not a lot of food, and if you want to eat you have to hunt. Then there's her being a witch, which means she was designed to hunt and fight and mate, moreso than a regular jotun. But she still has to be careful and use her head while hunting, or the eels will certainly kill her.**

 **As for the issue of Loki trusting Gjalp— It's not blind and implicit. But he knows her better than any other jotun, and she's proven useful. At first, Loki was confused and stressed, making him seem a little weak, which in turn stressed Gjalp out and pissed her off. But now he's recovering a bit from that, even with the turmoil of his whole life being a lie, so Gjalp is cooling down and will become more docile. The only reasons Loki really trusts her is that he knows her and has been around her more than the other jotun. She could also prove a useful asset during his stay, so he wants to have that around.**

 **So I hope that clears your misconceptions up. But if you really don't like my story, don't read it. I welcome constructive criticism, but please don't act so snooty about it— especially if you're not signing in. I'm more likely to listen to you and take you seriously if I see you have an account. Guest reviews are welcome, of course, but I appreciate it when you don't act all high-and-mighty and tell me everything wrong with my story.**

 **Thank you for reading, sorry for the rant, enjoy the chapter!**

Laufey had listened carefully to Loki's reasons for wanting her about, and had agreed that it would be beneficial to keep her around for a while.

Loki had voiced his surprise at this— Odin would've sent her through several rigorous background-checks, had her followed and watched for several days, spoken to her multiple times himself, and _still_ been very reluctant to simply _let_ her follow Loki around. He had asked if Laufey was simply spoiling him, but Gjalp shook her head. Her father was a member of Laufey's army, she was a witch, she'd cared for him already, and Loki's argument had been plausible.

Which led to the present.

Gjalp looked around the room with wide pupils. It wasn't anything super-fancy, but this whole room was probably the same size as her home. This was where she'd live as long as she was teaching Loki and breaking the spell on him. It was currently plain and undecorated, with only a bed of furs and a low table. Cut into the wall were small compartments for scrolls. But it was most definitely plenty.

"More room than I have stuff." she muttered.

True. Her belongings consisted of a few spell-scrolls, Aurboda's legend, an ancient mammut-pelt, and her coming-of-age decorations. Gjalp prided herself on not owning much, but in this room she suddenly felt like she needed a bit more.

"Settling in alright?"

Gjalp turned to see the not-so-Asgardian prince lounging against the doorway. Looking about the room, she shrugged. "Plenty of room, I suppose. I'll probably wind up redecorating at least once."

He looked confused and then concerned.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that's _exactly_ why I was given such a plain room so far away from everyone else." Gjalp scoffed, rolling her eyes. As a witch, she was bound to get angry at something and then need time alone, in which she'd need something to do to wear out her aggression. If she came here, it'd most likely be destroying everything.

"Ah... I... see."

"So, you need something?" she asked, flicking her bangs away from her face.

Shifting a bit so he was standing up, Loki nodded. "Yes— jotun runes are a bit... _different_ from Asgard's. Some are similar, but I don't know if they mean the same thing or not."

Raising an eyebrow, Gjalp retrieved one of her scrolls. Opening it up, she threw it across the table and asked, "What d'ya make of this?"

Walking over, Loki sat cross-legged on the floor and examined the scroll. Gjalp sat across from him, noting with some amusement that it was much higher for him than it was her.

"... It's a spell-scroll... for..." Tilting his head, Loki looked at her, then back at the scroll. "Invisibility?"

"Close, but no. It's a camouflage spell. Like a lesser invisibility. You won't see the caster unless you're really looking for them. The runes are similar, though, so good job."

An hour later, and Loki had gotten down most of the basic runes. Gjalp was impressed at how fast of a learner he was. He simply waved it off, attributing it to long hours spent in the library while Thor was out doing something or other with his warriors.

Just as they were about to move on to more complex runes, there was a rapping at the door.

" _What?_ " Gjalp called crossly. She wasn't one who took kindly to being interrupted.

"Forgive my rudeness," the servant outside apologized, "But Prince Loki has visitors. From Asgard."

"Already, huh? I've only been here _a day_ and Thor's _already_ trying to convince me to come back with him." Loki groaned, standing up. Gjalp rolled up the scroll, rolling across the floor to tuck it away. "Are you not coming?"

"I don't hafta, do I?"

Sighing, he shook his head, "No, I suppose not..."

Gjalp's eyes narrowed, her lips tugged into a frown. "... You were planning something." she accused.

"... You got me." Loki admitted. "I was thinking that if it appears I've made a friend, Thor would get less insistent. Or whoever this is. If it's Thor he'll stay to all sorts of hours unless I can give a plausible excuse."

After a moment of debate, Gjalp grabbed all her scrolls. She could tell the truth— they were studying runes— and that would chase away any visitors before they stayed an unnecessary length of time. In theory, anyway.

"Very well..." she huffed, getting to her feet and following after him. They walked in silence to a small court-room.

It was indeed Thor, accompanied by the group that had come with him on their violent first visit. Gjalp couldn't help but curl her lip a bit at the sight of the oaf. The woman fighter noticed this and glared. Gjalp met her gaze with just as much spite.

"Gjalp, if you could avoid fighting? I'd like to get back to the lessons as soon as possible." Loki said in a firm voice, sending only a glance her way before going off to the side with Thor.

"Lessons?" one of the group asked her curiously.

"Loki is... behind on his jotun education. I have been elected to teach him." she replied stiffly, taking a seat at the wall and opening up her great-grandmother's legend.

"And what's special about you?" the woman said with a slight leer.

"I may not look it," Gjalp said, throwing her head back in a prideful manner, "But I am the heir of a powerful family to the east of here. Our blood is ancient and pure, directly related to the ancestor of King Laufey. We provide many soldiers and court-members to the king, and as such a high-ranking female, so close to the third prince, I am currently the only one eligible to be his finance."

As the foursome gaped, Loki paused in his conversation with Thor to say, "Gjalp, that was a horrible lie. Anyone can see that's not true."

" _They_ didn't."

Loki rolled his eyes at her.

The most serious-looking of the Asgardians asked, "Why were you selected, honestly?"

"Because Loki asked me to and I was bored. I'm often bored." Gjalp muttered, scanning the scroll in her hands as if she were busy. She wasn't really reading, she knew the legend by heart, but wasn't terribly eager to socialize with these drift-brains.

And they decided not to push any further either.

It seemed like Thor and Loki were concluding their discussion when a servant came into the room.

"Miss Gjalp, there is a visitor for you."

Her head snapped up with a frown.

There was no one with any purpose to visit her, so what the hell?


	20. Chapter 20

"Gjalp of Gnipalund, I assume?"

Gjalp's pupils narrowed at the sight of another witch. This one looked to be a bit older than her sister, slightly taller and with more feminine features than Gjalp. She boldly wore the same type of coverings that a male would, and her hair was cut down to a short fuzz on one side, the other left to grow long with beads and feathers braided into it here and there. Gjalp also noted that there was a bronzish hoop-piercing on the witch's collar-bone, and scars left from huge claws on her shoulder.

"And who might you be?" she replied, cocking her head.

"Skadi." the elder replied, grinning to show off her fangs. "My father and uncles serve in Laufey's court."

"Yeah, I know— Helblindi seeks to court you, according to gossip."

Skadi smirked, tilting her own head.

On instinct, the two began to circle, measuring each other up.

Skadi was a huntress, and a master one at that. Gjalp was fairly proud of her skills, but in hunting, tracking and fighting, she was confident Skadi would beat her. In terms of magic, she might have a fraction of a chance, but not by much. This witch had formal training and truly noble blood, unlike Gjalp, who was mostly self-trained except for what Gunnlod taught her. And compared to a bloodline like Skadi's, Aurboda was little to brag about.

If Skadi had business with Gjalp, she hoped it was friendly, because otherwise she'd be walking away with a number of new battle scars.

Her pupils widened as Skadi's posture became more relaxed, head falling to the side again.

"A witch of Aurboda's descent... that means you'll one day join me in my hunts, correct?"

That sounded an _awful_ lot like an order.

" _Excuse me?_ " Gjalp hissed.

"Don't be boorish. _Everyone_ knows the legend of how Aurboda slew four trolls, even if it was only two."

At the very least, the bitch had her facts straight...

"And with the campaigns of past kings to wipe the trolls out, there are fewer and fewer each decade. The community I've joined has started biannual hunts into the mountains for the brutes. We've been doing this for the past sixty years now, and once you come of age, I think it'd be simply _marvelous_ if you were to join us."

"... Go jump in Ginnungagap, _eel-den._ "

Skadi's pupils narrowed down to their thinnest, eyes narrowing. Gjalp bared her fangs.

She respected this woman. She really did.

But she _would not_ be _used._

"What on Jotunheim makes you think I've any experience killing _anything_ outside of crabs and fish? I'm not your puppet, either. I enjoy a good hunt, but I prefer to keep myself unmangled and _not_ to risk the lives of others, _thank you._ "

She did hunt other things, but Skadi didn't know that.

"Besides, I don't know if you've noticed, but Gnipalund has a whole set of problems of it's own. I'm here until Loki no longer needs a tutor and my interest in him is exhausted. Then I'm returning to Vimur—"

"So you've no intent to help us make these monsters nothing more than a bad memory? You'd rather they come down from their hiding-places and devour our younglings in their sleep?" Skadi challenged, bristling.

Gjalp snarled at how the older twisted her words. " _I said no such thing!_ All _I_ said was that you're a _fool_ and your little campaign is going to get you _killed!_ "

By now others were gathering outside the room they were in. Gjalp could hear them, and Skadi could too, but they were too focused on each other to care.

Ice flakes fell from Gjalp's claws, and small wisps of blue escaped from Skadi's skin, white crystals forming across her arms. Both began to circle, walking on their toes and crouching ever-so-slightly. Their lips were peeled back to reveal fangs, pupils slimmed down to mere lines of black in smoldering red glares.

It was Skadi who struck first, lunging with incredible speed and slamming a frozen fist into Gjalp's still-bruised side. She howled, raking frost-swirled claws down the elder's chest and drawing blood.

Skadi snarled, kicking her feet out from under her. Gjalp pushed off the ground and bit down on the toned leg before her.

Before either of them could make another move, they were being pulled apart by numbers of warriors. Gjalp screamed, struggling and writhing against them in her eagerness to draw blood. She knew she wouldn't beat Skadi, but she'd _damn well_ take out that _ice-womb's_ eye!

Skadi was also eager to continue the fight, but neither of them could exactly move by this point, held down and pinned by at least four warriors each.

So instead Gjalp settled for spitting at Skadi, saliva tainted deep purple with blood.


	21. Chapter 21

"So... _why_ were Gjalp and Skadi fighting?"

Hearing that, Gjalp backtracked, casting a quick camouflage spell as she stood at the door.

Loki, his brothers, and the king were apparently discussing the fight from earlier while they ate. All eyes were on Loki, the only one who'd been present at the time.

"I'm not honestly sure." the third prince admitted with a frown. "Skadi was yelling something about younglings being killed, and Gjalp was telling Skadi that whatever campaign she's apparently running will get her killed. But after the fight had been broken up, Gjalp decided to stop teaching me runes and give me a lesson on insults instead."

Byleister snorted, and Laufey looked vaguely amused.

"And how do our jotun jibes compare to Asgard's?" Helblindi asked.

"It could just be her anger at Skadi, but it seems to me like most of the insults Gjalp taught me were invented by witches."

Well, she couldn't deny that. Gjalp bit back a huff, leaning against the doorframe.

"Well, a lot of them were, actually. In the old days, witches fought alongside warriors, and would cow their opponents by shrieking abuse at them." Laufey commented. "From what I heard as Skadi ranted to Helblindi and destroyed the courtyard, Gjalp went really low with a few of her insults."

"I dunno, I'm pretty impressed by the bitemark left on Skadi's leg." Byleister hummed.

The conversation went in a new direction from there, and Gjalp bored of it quickly. Pushing away from the wall, she wandered off.

Skadi was the type of jotun Gjalp _wanted_ to respect. She was strong and determined, a good leader, a fine hunter, a noble, and a witch. Witches were wary of each other instinctually upon the first meeting, but the conversation with her had just gone downhill so fast and hard they might as well have been digging through the ground!

But she _refused_ to be _used,_ coerced into convincing more people to throw their lives away seeking danger out. That was something only witches should do, Gjalp decided, picking at the scabs on her stomach from rescuing Loki. Danger was a male, so courting him was exclusive to the women with the nature to do so. Especially knowing that leading a hunt meant taking protection away from the younglings at that community. Trolls weren't stupid, and Skadi should've _known_ the danger of that.

Gjalp huffed, plucking at her skirt.

Yes, she was a witch of the family of Aurboda.

That was exactly why she feared trolls so much. Knowledge of the brutes instilled fear in her chest, understanding that it took a lot merely to injure one.

If Skadi wanted to be _stupid_ about it, _fine!_ Damn drift-brained eel-den!

"Oomph! Hey, watch it, stone-foot!" Gjalp snarled as she bumped into someone.

The warrior grabbed her shoulders, looking at her sternly.

Oh, goodie. Her father.

"Gjalp, what was the fight about?" he demanded.

Huffing, she turned away.

"Gjalp!"

"That ice-womb wants to use me and the blood of Aurboda to convince more warriors to join her troll-hunts!"

"... Huh?"

Uh-oh. She didn't like that face or that voice.

"... I had actually sent a letter to Skadi telling her about you. It seemed like the sort of thing you would enjoy a lot..." Geirrodr said softly.

"You... _You did what?!_ "

The witch pushed her father away, eyes blazing. "Are you an _idiot?!_ Hunts like that are _suicide!_ And trolls— They're not _smart,_ but they're not _stupid!_ They'll figure out that the communities are less protected and go after them, the younglings and people who don't go will be defenseless, _meat-fodder!_ "

"You criticize others for doing dangerous things, yet seek it out yourself." he scowled, reaching out to brush his fingertips over the bruise on her side.

"Because I was _made_ for danger! Warriors are made for combat, dags for magic,and witches for danger and chaos! I _do not_ condone the slaughter of people who are not truly _willing_ to fight!"

"Gjalp, be sensible!"

"Sensible?! _Sensible?!_ "

A flurry of snow was blown roughly into his face, and a wall of ice shoved him to the side. Falling to all fours, Gjalp loped away, growling furiously.

Drift-brains.

All of them.

Bursting outside, Gjalp skidded to a stop, gouging lines into the ice with her claws. Taking a deep breath and filling her lungs with fresh, sharp air, she stood up and picked a direction. Moving at an easy lope, muscles tense and vocal-chords thrumming with angry growls, Gjalp eventually came to an area full of rubble. Looking around, she found herself to be at Utgarda's temple.

Where Loki had been left.

The temple was still undergoing repairs. It wasn't used as often as other areas of the capital, so Laufey had been putting it off, she was told.

Falling onto all fours again, Gjalp curiously stole into the temple.

It wasn't like she would get in trouble for being here. It was a public place, after all. But there was an air of silence laid thick over the area that made her feel the need to behave more reverently.

The temple smelled of wolves and cloud-striders, though there were a few roc-feathers blown into the corner. Gjalp looked around, head tilted to the side. This temple was ancient, and there was wear on it even without the stress of the war or the obvious troll-inflicted damage that punched through the wall. Drifts of snow rested against the back, though the altar still stood in the clear.

Standing up, Gjalp walked over to touch the stand.

It was getting dark out, but enough light filtered through the holes beaten into the temple to reveal red stains all but immortalized in the ice at her fingertips.

"... Wow."

Gjalp's head snapped up, ice already forming on her arm.

Loki held his hands up submissively. She relaxed, turning back to her inspection.

"This place... is something else." he commented, pulling the fur he wore about himself.

"I've never actually been here before. My father told me stories from when he was little though, about how there were once celebrations here when harvests were good, or trolls had been killed. But that all stopped with the war. We didn't have the time, and now we don't have the resources for many more celebrations than the coming-of-age ceremony that happens once a year." Gjalp hummed.

Loki was quiet.

Gjalp rubbed her fingers over the stain.

"... I would've been put right about there, wouldn't I?"

Slowly, she nodded.

This blood at her fingertips... it was probably Odin's.


	22. Chapter 22

The wall broke with relative ease, and Gjalp burst from the hole, panting and whining. Finding a snow-drift, she burrowed into it, enveloping herself in cold.

"Gjalp?! Gjalp, are you alright?! I didn't hurt you, did I?!"

A drawn-out keen came from Gjalp's mound of snow.

"... Do I want to know what happened?"

Uh-oh, that was Laufey...

It was the day after the incident with Skadi. Loki had suggested that instead of continuing lessons, she look at the spell instead. Gjalp had agreed, and Loki had laid down on the furs, shirtless, in his chambers. Even when she felt herself growing uncomfortably warm, she hadn't given up, persisting after the weak spot that she _knew_ was there, even if she couldn't find it...

As a result, she'd been thrown back with a shriek of agony again.

Lacking the patience to run outside and too hot to perform her frostbite magic, Gjalp had broken through the wall instead, pain lancing through her body with every move. Even now, she could feel snow melting into rivulets of water that trickled down her skin, following her heritage-lines.

"I'll fix it, jus' gimme an hour!... or three... or a day..." she called weakly from her snow-drift, grinding her palms into her eyes. _Ugh_ , her nose was bleeding too...

"I knew it was your fault, but..." Laufey sighed.

"I asked her to look at Odin's spell... apparently it can super-heat her skin, and if she's careless, it'll inflict serious pain on— _Is that blood?!_ "

She must've dripped.

"No." she called innocently back.

"Gjalp, you're _bleeding?!_ "

"If you're injured, you should go to the healer." Laufey said firmly. "I don't want your father wailing because I 'neglected his daughter.'"

Crawling out from under the snow, feeling well enough that it no longer melted on contact with her skin, Gjalp yelled back, "It's just an exertion-bleed! It'll stop in a bit! And I'm just a bit dizzy!"

"Gjalp, I can see you swaying from here." Loki deadpanned.

"Get off the cliff and inside." Laufey agreed.

Growling, Gjalp ducked back into her mound of snow, ice starting to form on her body.

There was a thumping, and huge hands reached into the snow to grab her by the back of the neck and her shoulder. Letting out an indignant shriek, Gjalp began to thrash against her captor, who turned out to be one of Laufey's guards. Sighing, the warrior began to drag her back towards the hole in the wall. Her skin scraped against the stone and ice, but she made sure to scratch him several times.

"I didn't need fetching," she hissed as she was hauled inside, "I was fine out there!"

"Go to the healer." Laufey ordered sharply, glaring.

Gjalp offered a snarl, but it was halfhearted. Stomping, she took care to slam her shoulder into both the king and a few of his warriors as she stormed past. Loki followed her.

"You know, in Asgard, you'd probably lose your head for that sort of behavior."

"This ain't Asgard, though, is it, drift-brain?" she shot back. "Why you followin' me?"

"I feel like it."

Gjalp spat, but couldn't say much to that— She did so much merely on whim that it'd be pure bitchiness to say anything about it to him.

By now her nose had stopped bleeding. Licking her lips, Gjalp tasted icy copper, and swiped a knuckle across her jaw to rid herself of the rest on her face. The stuff in her nose had coagulated by this point, blocking up her nasal passages and forcing her to breathe raspily through her mouth. She'd probably be able to blow her nose in an hour or two, but it would be a good idea to let the blood-vessels take time to repair themselves first.

If Skadi caught wind of this, she'd claim that Gjalp exerted herself to the point of melting and bleeding performing a simple camouflage spell.

Damn bitch.

The healer had her sit down and performed a basic check-up. Gjalp turned out to still be slightly too warm for comfort, so a thin layer ice was grown across her back, shoulders, and upper arms and legs. That would help her to cool down, and then she was made to lay down so a mixture of fa-fat and bloodmoss could be dabbed about her ears and under her chin. The fat would allow the bloodmoss's properties to soak into her skin, which would chase away the ringing in her ears and soothe the throbbing in her temples.

"Really? Bloodmoss has that many applications?" Loki asked as she explained this when they left the healer.

"It's a staple to our healing. I told you this." Gjalp huffed, rubbing at her nose.

"And it's dying out..." Loki murmured, looking thoughtful. "If I stay, we might be able to work out a treaty between Asgard and Jotunheim, where Asgard can grow the bloodmoss in exchange for some service the jotun can perform."

"It's an idea... but even if such an agreement can be made, it boils down to if the bloodmoss holds the same sentiment, or disagrees with Asgardian climate and soil." Gjalp pointed out, watching as dribbles of water on her arms and chest became slush. Once the ice stopped melting entirely, she could take it off, but she had to wait until then.

Loki bit his cheek, nodding as he considered her angle on it.

Eventually, they parted ways. Helblindi and Byleister had decided to take Loki out to see Utgarda and the surrounding areas, since he'd only seen a few streets of Utgarda, the flatlands, the ruined temple, and Gnipalund on Vimur. This would give Loki some basic layout of Jotunheim, and the three brothers time to bond better. While they left, Gjalp decided to head to the courtyard and find a place to nap. Even with the bloodmoss, her head was still hurting, and she didn't feel like being in her room at the moment.

Hopping up on the roof and lounging between ice-slabs sounded nice right about now.


	23. Chapter 23

"So we've covered runes, geography... and insults. What's next?" Loki asked, looking to her.

Day after tomorrow, Loki and a smallish party of jotun would be going to Asgard to hear his final decision and create a more solid, substantial treaty.

Gjalp was disappointed that she wouldn't have another shot at the spell. She had been _so close!_

"Culture might be best."

At the clear voice, Gjalp instantly went on-guard. She hadn't been aware that there was anyone else in the library, and so she was naturally alarmed and annoyed.

"Oh, hey," she said, calming upon spotting the speaker, "You're Vafthruthnir the New. Hraesvelgr's son."

The dag youngling smiled in a friendly manner, supporting himself on his crutch as he limped over to them. "It's an honor to meet you both, Your Majesty, Madam Gjalp." the boy greeted.

"Likewise, Vafthruthnir. Gjalp here thinks highly of you." Loki smiled, returning the respectful nod.

"He called me _madam._ " Gjalp cooed, trying to resist the urge to fawn over the waist-heigh youngling. Her maternal instincts and her appeal to Vafthruthnir's personality were mixing and pushing her to want to dote on him. They'd only met once before, and it was only for a brief minute, at Greip's and Helblindi's coming-of-age ceremony. But she liked him. He was cute.

As a dag, Vafthruthnir was small by nature. Only seven-hundred years old, he was about the size of an Asgardian-youngling. His legs were crippled, had been since birth, forcing him to move at a slow limp and use a crutch when he walked. But despite his physical limitations and his bizarre lack of magical aptitude, Vafthruthnir was bright and cheery, with a kind smile and sparkling eyes. He was intelligent, and Gjalp heard that he helped his father out during court-sessions. Most everyone agreed that Byleister would be a fool not to employ Vafthruthnir in his own court when he claimed the throne.

"And he's right, culture's a good place to go from here." Gjalp nodded as Vafthruthnir seated himself at the table they were using. Smiling lopsidedly, she asked, "Would you like to help?"

"If you both don't mind. I've nothing else to do at the moment, since I just finished all of my own studies."

" _All_ of them? As in, like, the _entire_ curriculum that nobles learn?" Loki demanded incredulously.

"He's only fifty years ahead of the average youngling, and here on Jotunheim, _all_ younglings receive an education. Like I told those buffoons your not-brother loves so much, you're behind on your jotun-education."

"Only fifty— When do you start?!"

"I started at two-hundred." Gjalp hummed.

"Me too. I think that's the average age." Vafthruthnir agreed, nodding.

Loki shook his head. "Odin started my formal education when I was three-hundred— Of course, it was at the same time as Thor, so... Norns!"

"Yeah," Gjalp nodded, "Asgardians are dumb as rocks."

Loki made a face, causing Vafthruthnir to snicker.

"So anyway!" Gjalp barked. "Three months after birth, we undergo a naming ceremony. At that time, we are recognized as part of the Jotunheim culture. You'll probably get a special one around the time of your coming-of-age cerem—"

"Loki!"

"Aaaand the mammut-turd's back. We're in the middle of lessons, piss off!"

"Honestly, Thor," Loki said with a slight growl as the servant-girl darted away, "I'm not going anywhere, you don't need to visit so often. And we'll be going to Asgard soon anyway, so why're you here?"

The Asgardian prince frowned a bit. "I wanted to see you. I don't care what anyone says, you are _my brother._ "

"I think Byleister would knock your lights out if he heard you saying that. I'm not seeing Lady Sif or the Warriors Three."

Gjalp began to pointedly drum her claws against the table. Vafthruthnir offered her his hand to alleviate boredom while Loki and Thor talked. Wrapping their fists around each other, Gjalp gestured that Vafthruthnir should take the first move. His hand was so tiny compared to hers...

He tapped against the back of her hand, and she did the same to him.

Thor's friends would be coming later, with Odin and Frigga. Apparently Laufey and Odin had agreed to have a civil meal together without anyone else hearing about it.

Vafthruthnir hit her hand with more force. Careful to reign her strength in, Gjalp lightly slapped the back of his hand.

"What're you doing?" Loki asked. Thor sat next to him.

"A game. It's normally played between younglings, younger than me. You hold hands like we are, and hit the other's hand harder and harder every turn. The one who let's go first is the loser. The winner is said to become the bigger and better warrior, and have the best chance at getting an attractive mate." Vafthruthnir smiled.

"It's a fairly common game. Then there's also Touch the King, played when the king is out. Younglings will try to get as close as they can to him before the guards shoo them away. The ones able to get the closest are said to have the best chance of joining the elite royal guard someday." Gjalp nodded. "Greip's crush holds the record. Surtr had his hand an inch away from Laufey's ribs before he was swatted at and chased back."

This was part of the cultural lesson. Loki understood this, paying attention, but Thor just looked confused.

"My favorite game is one where you try to see who can make the biggest slush pile without freezing or melting it entirely. I'm pretty good, if I do say so myself." Vafthruthnir added, releasing Gjalp's hand.

"I prefer the competition of seeing who can make the largest snowflake before it crumbles." she argued.

Thor chuckled, making them all look to him. "I don't see the point of these games. Your people almost all become hunters or soldiers. Shouldn't your games teach children these skills?" he asked with a slight smile.

Loki hit him, exclaiming, "You stone-footed drift-brain! They do!"

"Thank you, Loki." Gjalp hummed, nodding as she clambered up to crouch on the table. Not for any reason. She just wanted to.

"The first one builds up strength and endurance, and the second helps speed and agility. The other two teach control over magic, which, if you remember, the jotun use quite a bit in combat. Jotunheim has a higher appreciation of magic and it's users than Asgard does."

The blonde blushed, realizing just how hard he'd put his foot in his mouth.

Gjalp resisted the urge to smirk, growled, and continued the lesson.


	24. Chapter 24

"... which is why there are community food-stores. Not everyone is able to hunt, so those will apply their talents elsewhere to the support of their community." Gjalp finished.

"That's why you're always going after those eels, then?" Loki asked, tilting his head.

Gjalp bobbed her head.

"Madam Gjalp's career will most likely be a huntress, doubling as a local militia for Gnipalund in times of trouble," Vafthruthnir added, "Within a community, there are many jobs, but every single one must be carried out to completion for those living there to survive. Hunters exist in every community, as do builders and advisors. Hunters and builders will often form the protection of the community when a threat rises up. Advisors will be the ones running communities— like pseudo-mini-kings, in a way, at least three of them per community. We go to advisors when we have problems that need sorting out or when we need a leader."

Loki nodded, concentrating on their words and any scrolls they showed him. The blonde Asgardian just looked lost.

"Now... this may not be an appropriate question, but I'm noticing you have no pleasure-jobs?" Loki asked as they finished the explanation. Thor perked up a bit at that.

Covering Vafthruthnir's ears— the youngling rolled his eyes— Gjalp explained, "Women only offer services out of wedlock in times of need, when the population begins to drop too low, or when a certain kind of heir is needed. King Laufey's great-grandfather's wife passed away before they could have a child, and there were no other eligible females. So instead he sent out a notice to every city and community, and hundreds of women flocked to the palace. It's said that in the end, only two actually conceived— a female and a male were born. The female is lost to history, and the male went on to take the throne, Laufey's grandfather."

Uncovering the dag youngling's ears, she continued, "And other careers in that area are more of hobbies that can make some profit during celebrations."

"So only once a year. Pity." Loki sighed.

" _Once?_ " Thor demanded. He looked absolutely horrified.

So Asgardians were spoiled as well as dumb, violent brutes. Gjalp rolled her eyes.

"Yes, Thor, once. Gjalp told me that her father says there used to be more before the war, but once Odin took the Casket from them, they had neither time or resources. So now it all goes into staying alive and the coming-of-age ceremony held here in Utgarda." Loki huffed in annoyance.

"You better believe it."

Byleister had appeared.

"C'mon. The other Asgardians are here. The meal'll be starting shortly." the first prince said shortly. "Vafthruthnir, I'd appreciate it if you sat at my right tonight."

"It would be an honor, Your Majesty!" the young jotun answered happily.

"Will you be joining us, Gjalp?" Loki asked, head tilting as he stood.

Biting her lip, Gjalp thought carefully. Looking to Byleister, she asked suspiciously, "Will Skadi be there?"

"Since it's just been made official that she and Helblindi are courting."

"I'll find my own food." she declared, turning to pick up the scrolls they'd been using.

"Father has requested you be there."

"Tell him to shove it."

Thor's jaw dropped at her reply, but Byleister just shook his head. "Let me rephrase that; Father _ordered_ that you be there."

"I repeat, he can shove it." Gjalp hissed, pupils narrowing as she turned to glare.

"Not even to brag about how you've touched the spell on me and make Skadi jealous?" Loki asked coyly.

After a moment of glaring, Gjalp stood up and scooped up Vafthruthnir so that he wouldn't have to walk. The first prince took him, which made her growl, but she allowed it. After all, he had just pretty much declared him his advisor.

At dinners like this, the king and queen sat at one table with the most important of guests and the court. Their children and their 'court' would sit at another and entertain other guests, and then the rest were spread out through the hall to sit as they pleased. In a way, it was setting up a mock royal table for the heir apparent, because seating would be arranged mostly the same. Byleister would sit at the head of the table with his advisor to the right and his chosen mate— which he currently had none— to his left. Helblindi— and Skadi— would sit around the corner from Byleister's left, followed by Loki and the ones Byleister chose for his court, and across from them would sit Prince Thor and his companions. Tonight, Gjalp would be sitting next to Loki— the only thing keeping her away from Skadi.

She _was not_ looking forward to this dinner.

As the meal began, the hall was tense and quiet. The only conversation was between Laufey and Odin, hushed to keep others from listening in.

Gjalp found herself seated across from the woman warrior Sif. The dark-haired Asgardian glared daggers at her. Not willing to put up with the slime of _two_ eel-dens, Gjalp glared back until the warrior next to Sif subtly elbowed her into stopping. Huffing a bit, Gjalp lowered her own gaze as well.

Eventually, Thor and Helblindi wound up exchanging rather cheerful hunting-stories. That broke the ice enough that others along the table began talking.

Gjalp chose to remain silent, eating her meal moodily. Loki sat quietly as well, watching the proceedings carefully.

"So, youngling, I heard you got an exertion-bleed the other day." Skadi suddenly said acidly.

Gjalp's fist came down on the table. All eyes went to her and Skadi.

Collecting herself, Gjalp flashed Skadi a saccharine smile. "Of course! Complex magics will often result in such things, though I suppose a lame fa like yourself wouldn't understand!" she replied in an innocent tone.

" _Ooh_ , impressive! _Complex magic_ , and you haven't even built up an impressive drift yet! _White moon!_ "

Gjalp's cheeks flushed dark, pupils narrowing as she subconsciously touched her collarbone. "... Well, the later bloodmoss throws out it's feelers, the lusher it'll grow. But I shouldn't blame you for not _getting_ that, you _are_ an ice-womb."

The Asgardians looked lost, but the other jotun were starting to look edgy. They understood the insults being exchanged, and the sharp below-the-belt turn they were taking. Literally.

Skadi's face was darkening now too, her own pupils narrowing as Gjalp leered at her. By this point, Loki had slipped out from between them to the other side of Helblindi. But Gjalp didn't particularly care. She was too busy waging war on Skadi.

"I'm amazed you even know what a womb _is_ , youngling, still freshly fallen as you are." Skadi growled.

"So you _admit_ to being an eel-den? _No wonder_ you're an ice-womb! You must've caught a bizarre fish, and _that_ , of course, explains your muzzle!"

Gjalp didn't honestly know which of those insults was the one that did it, but Skadi flew at her, screeching like a roc. Her back and shoulders scraped at the floor, and she howled in challenge, bringing her legs up as claws wrapped around her throat.

Her knees dug into Skadi's soft stomach, forcing her up and off. Flipping over, Gjalp lunged forward, howling. The elder swatted her aside.

As she hit the floor, Gjalp was dimly aware of chanting and yelling. But she was more intent on dealing damage to Skadi, so ignored the noise. Her pupils were narrowed down to their thinnest, and she peeled her lips back to expose her fangs as she roared. It was a much higher pitch than the one Skadi answered her with, quieter but just as fierce.

Ice grew across Skadi's body, arming her. Gjalp curled as the older witch attacked, creating a thick plate of ice on her shoulders and back. While the blow rattled Gjalp and made her buckle a bit, it wasn't as painful as it would've been had the ice-blades struck her.

Jaws open, Gjalp sprang forward to bite on Skadi's bicep. The taste of blood filled her mouth again. Skadi howled, beating on her head and clawing at her ribs.

Then strong hands were tearing them apart, and a wall of ice appeared between them.

"Enough!" Byleister roared.

Eyes narrowing, Gjalp threw herself at the ice-wall, pushing off of it to spring up to one of the small windows above.

"Follow me if you can, eel-den!" she howled before darting outside.

 **Okay, an explanation on the insults Gjalp and Skadi exchanged.**

 **Gjalp is offended easily by being called a youngling. Until her coming-of-age ceremony, she is considered by tradition a youngling, or a child, even though she is technically an adult. So Skadi continually calling her that is digging into that.**

 **After that, Gjalp calls Skadi a lame fa— remember, a fa is one of the beasts the jotun hunt and domesticate, typically seen as big and stupid. Adding on lame the way she does, Gjalp is implying that Skadi is clumsy, stupid, fat, and totally incapable of magic.**

 **When Skadi talks about drifts, she's referring to Gjalp's bust, calling her flat-chested, and the white moon comment is suggesting that Gjalp hasn't even reached sexual maturity— had her first period, pretty much. Gjalp counters this by saying that smaller breasts have more room to swell up with milk compared to larger busts. She then adds ice-womb, saying that Skadi can't understand the concept behind that because she can't have children.**

 **The freshly fallen bit refers to how Gjalp is a virgin— so she's still pure and unblemished, like freshly-fallen snow. A childish insult, but it apparently worked on Gjalp.**

 **'Eel-den' essentially means slut. It implies that one would be sexually satisfied by something as limp and disgusting as an eel. Gjalp is saying this in reply to the virgin-insult, implying that Skadi is only able to say that because she is a slut. She then adds that because of that, Skadi must've caught an illness from one of her partners that sterilized her, making her unable to have children and therefore an ice-womb. To rub salt in the wound, she adds that it's horribly disfigured Skadi, making her ugly.**

 **And after that, Skadi attacks Gjalp.**

 **Thanks for reading, see you next chapter!**


	25. Chapter 25

_"Follow me if you can, eel-den!" Gjalp howled, slipping out the window in the next second._

 _Skadi screamed in reply, using the wall Byleister had made to spring off of and out the window herself._

 _"Let them be." Laufey called as several warriors made to take after them._

 _Loki looked to his elder brother as he resumed his seat. But before he could say anything, Fandral beat him to the question, asking, "Is this type of event commonplace here?"_

 _"No... Apparently Gjalp took offense to Skadi's request for her to join the annual troll-hunts she started up. She declined Skadi's offer, and then Skadi took offense... the chemistry between those two is just bad. If they're going to fight, better that they do it outside." Helblindi sighed._

 _"Very little can stop a fight between witches once it gets going," Byleister agreed, "So one might call my attempt foolish. I had hoped a reminder of the events around them might calm them down, but I guess not."_

 _"I just hope Madam Skadi shows Madam Gjalp some kindness." Vafthruthnir worried._

 _Loki turned his gaze to his new friend. "What do you mean?" he asked in concern._

 _"Gjalp may be younger and more magically inclined, but in a physical fight like this, Skadi has the upper hand. While we don't condone murder for any reason, Gjalp is going to be hard-pressed to stay alive while they're both so riled up." Byleister explained quietly._

Gjalp felt the air whoosh out of her lungs as Skadi drove her into the ground. Freezing long needles of ice onto her claws, she drove her hand towards the elder's thigh. Contact was made, skin was broken, blood was drawn, and ice snapped.

Howling, Skadi tumbled off of her, rolling to the side. Staying on her back, Gjalp kicked, sending a clumsy spear of ice in Skadi's general direction. She missed horribly, but Skadi retreated further anyway. This gave Gjalp time to roll over, crouching on all fours.

Skadi mirrored her, and they circled, both bristling and growling.

Gjalp lunged first, shrieking bloodthirstily. Skadi met her with twice the brute force, but Gjalp had moved far enough forward that she had the upper hand for all of two seconds. She made use of it by raking her frost-whorled claws down the huntress's face.

Skadi screamed, putting one hand to her eye. Retaliation came quick, in the form of a huge ice-spear that pierced Gjalp's shoulder.

Both of them were bleeding now. Gjalp's lip was split, her back scraped, her shoulder pierced, and her ribs clawed. Skadi had a bite-wound on her arm, her leg bleeding from the ice-shards still lodged there, and dark rivulets running down her face. It appeared that Gjalp had, in actuality, missed Skadi's ruby orb, but the sting of indigo fluid was still blinding the older witch.

Gjalp had expected a moment to recover after that— She was denied, Skadi sweeping her feet out from under her.

As she rolled to the side to escape the skull-crushing blow she saw coming, Gjalp gasped.

Her claws scrabbled against jagged stone, searching for purchase. In a heart-stopping moment, she found one, and dug her claws into the cliff.

Somewhere along the line, she and Skadi had taken their battle to the edge of a canyon. Looking down, she could only see shadows. It wasn't Ginnungagap, but she wouldn't survive the fall, especially at night like this.

"Well, look at this!" Skadi drawled, leering down at her. "I'd say you're in a bit of a tight spot, youngling!"

Gjalp took a shuddering breath, forcing a shiver. Panicking in this situation wouldn't do any good, she needed to be calm...

"So? Going to beg for help?"

"From you? I'd rather fall!" Gjalp spat.

Skadi scowled. Drips of indigo fell from her chin to Gjalp's cheek, sticky and metallic-smelling. Narrowed pupils shifted to look at Gjalp's hands.

Fear clenching her chest, Gjalp froze her hands to the cliff.

Skadi's pupils widened, and she burst out cackling.

"How do you intend to get free _now,_ white moon?! You can't break it like _that_ , not without dooming yourself to fall! _You're completely trapped!_ "

... She was so _stupid_.

Skadi was right.

She was stuck, hanging from the cliff like a piece of meat.

"I have, contrary to what you think, my honor— I won't kill you," Skadi sneered, "But I won't force my help on someone who doesn't want it."

With that, the older witch stood and left.


	26. Chapter 26

**To guest reviewer Kc:**

 **Thank you for the advice— I'm trying my hardest to keep Loki in character, but he's fairly complex, and I'm finding him difficult to write. So yeah, he may be a little OOC, and hasn't found reason to use his magic yet— though I'll probably put that into play soon— but I'm trying my hardest. Thank you for your politeness and the time you took to read. Again, thanks for the advice, and I'll try to work on those things!**

Gjalp huffed.

There wasn't much else _to_ do at this point.

She'd tried everything. But there was just no way for her to break the ice on her hands without help. And by now, she'd lost all feeling in her arms, her shoulders aching.

So there were a few options. The cliff could crumble, and she could fall to her death. A roc could swing by in search of a meal, tear her from the cliff and gobble her up, but that was unlikely given that rocs only attacked younglings and the occasional dag. Others were simply too big. Or, almost _more_ unlikely, someone could come by and she could call for help.

Gjalp was stuck here.

Sighing, she shivered.

Her pupils were wide, cheeks flushed, and chest heaving. All her wounds except got her shoulder had stopped bleeding. She needed a healer to look at that. It wouldn't kill her— Not right away. But it was probably getting infected as she thought about it. Her arms were numb, the pain in her shoulders growing. The soreness from being tossed around by Skadi was also starting to set in.

All in all?

Gjalp was kind of screwed.

At that moment, the wind picked up.

"... Great..."

Contrary to what the Asgardians thought— she and Loki had held a very long, loud discussion that was _almost_ an argument over this— there was such as thing as too cold for jotun. It normally only happened during bad storms.

Storms like the one that Gjalp could smell heading her way on the wind.

Combine that with the current nighttime, the temperature would be dropping drastically— was dropping drastically.

Another option had been added to the list—

Gjalp was going to _freeze_ to death.

A small gasp left her as the cold bit into her bones, especially around her shoulder. The wind was cutting through her like a warrior's ice-scythe, instilling a chill deep under her skin.

As dark clouds crept over the already-dark sky, obliterating all light, Gjalp felt snow whipped against her skin. It hurt, stinging and biting. She clenched her teeth, squeezing her eyes shut.

The the wind changed direction.

A pained howl left the witch as snow was driven top-speed to dig into her shoulder-wound.

Clawed hands wrapped around her wrists.

Shocked, Gjalp looked up.

Ruby eyes glinted from under layers of fa-pelt cloaks and wraps, familiar heritage-lines greeting Gjalp through clouded puffs of breath.

"... G-Gunnlod..."


	27. Chapter 27

_"You just_ left _her out there?!" Loki all but yelled._

 _Skadi said nothing, looking away._

 _That was horrid. Nothing like that ever happened on Asgard. On Asgard, someone like Gjalp would've been beaten badly, then brought back. Not abandoned._

 _But there wasn't much he could do._

 _It wasn't like Gjalp was overly precious to him, either. She was just a mentor until he learned Jotunheim's ways. Vafthruthnir would be more than happy to help with that._

 _Loki shook his head, spinning away from Skadi._

 _Trying to reason with himself like that was impossible when he bore in mind that she was probably half-dead already. That was just disgusting._

 _And no one had particularly_ done _anything about it! Like they didn't_ care _that the princess-to-be had just murdered another witch in cold blood! Had something like that happened in Asgard, Skadi would've been tried as a criminal, noble blood or not!_

 _Loki ground his teeth in frustration._

 _Thor and the other Asgardians had left, not long after Skadi and Gjalp had run off. Hraesvelgr, the dag sitting to Laufey's right, had warned that a blizzard was coming, and would make it too cold for them to survive the return to the Bifrost-site._

 _Said blizzard was getting into full swing outside. He could hear it._

 _"Loki?"_

 _He looked up, spotting Byleister._

 _"You look troubled." his elder brother frowned._

 _"Skadi just left Gjalp out there?! Doesn't she care that she could die?!"_

 _A deep sigh left the first prince. "This is part of the reason witches are so rare. Their instincts lead them to be violent and aggressive, getting them killed often. If Gjalp is out there and she is alive, then I trust her to be clever enough to survive the blizzard. We can search for her afterwards if you want."_

 _Loki was speechless, and ran away._

 _They truly didn't care!_

 _Admittedly, if a simple servant had died back in Odin's court, not too much fuss would've been raised, but if one directly tied to the royal family did, that was different. Gjalp may not have been a servant— She may have been a commoner who was only here for a while, but shouldn't someone besides him have been even just the slightest bit rankled?!_

 _One of the thinner ice-sheets above him, one covering a window for the storm, shattered. He reflexively raised his hands to shield himself from the falling ice._

 _What burst through the window in the shower of shards was a mass of fur, skidding a bit on the floor. Loki was ready to attack should this new creature prove hostile, but then it stood. Two of the pelts fell away, pooling on the floor, and the rest were shrugged aside enough that he could see a tall, proud female figure._

 _"The healers, boy." the witch rasped at him, carefully adjusting the load across her shoulders._

 _It was Gjalp._

Gjalp curled in on herself, like a youngling suffering a nightmare.

It was _cold_... she didn't want to _move_ , just wanted to _curl up_ and _sleep_...

What had happened? She was having trouble remembering. Someone had gotten her off the cliff. But who? And why?

Something warm touched her shoulder. A soft mewl left her, and she relaxed into the touch.

"This magic is more advanced than what I know..."

"Really? I'm only good at the basics... You have to be in at least that much with Thor around..."

"We on Jotunheim haven't branched our magic out as far as you have in that direction then."

Voices. Three of them.

Confused and curious, Gjalp cracked her eyes open and shifted so she could see who it was.

... Loki? That was pale skin... The palace-healer... and Gunnlod.

That was right. Gunnlod.

"You're early." she whispered, voice all but nonexistent.

"News travels fast, little eel-hunter." Gunnlod replied as the healer shushed her.

Gunnlod was Gjalp's mentor, a witch close to Laufey's age. Tall, muscular and sharp, her eyes had a bit more of a slant to them than other jotun. Her ears were pierced many times, and her lower lip bore three little spikes. The training-antlers of a young fa had been fused to the skin on her upper arms, like permanent armor, scratched and chipped. She wore her hair cut completely away save a thin strip running from her forehead to the nape of her neck, which was pulled into a tight, narrow braid down her back. Her skirt was slightly longer in comparison to Gjalp's, made of black wolf-pelt, with fish-bones sewn onto the hide to make intricate patterns. Around her ankles were slim thongs of leather bearing brightly-colored beads— Gunnlod had told Gjalp they were once her mother's, and that they'd come from a Midgard.

Gjalp respected Gunnlod, admired her. She was powerful, fast, and her magic was stunning. She knew so many things and had taught Gjalp most of what she knew. Gunnlod had also served in King Farbauti's court for a short while, though she didn't often speak of that.

Gunnlod traveled often— It wasn't uncommon for Gjalp not to see her for a whole year before the older witch finally reappeared. This time, Gunnlod had told Gjalp she was heading to Ginnungagap, and wouldn't be back for months. That was why Gjalp had decided to use the bloodmoss cave to hide Loki, because no one would be coming around.

Gjalp smiled groggily as Gunnlod draped a few fa-pelts over her.

As Loki began speaking in soft tones to Gunnlod, Gjalp left sleep take her.


	28. Chapter 28

Feeling someone combing carefully through her hair, Gjalp blinked awake.

Gunnlod had pulled her head into her lap, and was calmly pulling out slushy snarls from her hair.

"You're early." she mumbled, feeling a slight sense of déjà vu.

"I heard a certain witch had recovered the long-lost princeling, and decided to cut my trip short."

Groaning, Gjalp pushed herself up. Gunnlod watched with a careful red gaze.

"Careful, little eel-hunter. We were only able to repair your shoulder, not fully heal. You'll still need a few days at least."

Reminded of the fight with Skadi, Gjalp moved to touch her wound. Pain lanced up her arm and to her shoulder, making her hiss. Gunnlod did nothing, just watched calmly.

"... What... happened?"

"I found you, frozen to a cliffside. You screamed, most likely when the wind drove snow into the hole in your back, and I heard. After getting you off the cliff, I carried you directly here. You were delirious or unconscious almost the entire time. Just as well that I found you, or you would've fallen into ice-sleep."

Blinking, Gjalp looked down at her hands. They were covered in bandages, and hurt to move. Gunnlod probably didn't have the luxury of being careful getting her off that cliff. Chances were she was missing a lot of skin.

"That stone-foot Laufey tells me that it was Skadi who did most of the recent damage." Gunnlod said, staring at her.

Cowering a bit under her mentor's gaze, Gjalp said defensively, "That eel-den is setting up troll-hunts! And she wants me to join!"

Frowning, the older witch crossed her arms. "She should _know_ how _dangerous_ that is."

" _Exactly!_ " Gjalp howled, tossing her head for emphasis. "That's what I _keep saying_ , but _no one listens!_ "

Gunnlod continued frowning, drumming her claws against her forearm.

"... Eh. Wait. Isn't today..."

Ah.

The delegation had gone to Asgard today. And she would probably go back to Gnipalund soon...

"By the way, a certain first prince has said he may want you to hang around a while longer. Something about Vafthruthnir needing an assistant."

Gjalp couldn't contain herself. She squealed, making her mentor wince with a scowl.

"Sorry... he's just such a _sweetie!_ And he's so _tiny_ , like a fresh youngling!" Gjalp apologized, grinning goofily as she cradled her arms in front of her as if holding a baby.

"He practically is."

It looked like Gunnlod wasn't in as humorous mood as Gjalp. At a guess, the older witch was still brooding over Skadi's hunts.

Gunnlod closed her eyes with a drawn-out sigh.

"That man... Loki, the third Laufeyson... If you hadn't been sticking your muzzle where it didn't belong, Asgard and Jotunheim might have gone to war again. But for the first time in thousands of years, peace— actual peace— may be settling over our realms."

Gjalp chewed on her lip. Knowing the tone of voice the older witch was using, she drew her feet under herself to sit on her heels. Placing her hands on her knees, she leaned forward. If Gunnlod was trying to get at something, it was best to listen.

"Chances are that he'll be bitter. There will be times he won't understand and will need both time and help to grasp our ways. And everyone is going to start coming this way. Every jotun in this realm will want to get close to him."

What Gjalp wasn't expecting was for Gunnlod to tackle her. They tumbled off the bed, hitting the floor hard and making Gjalp scream as her shoulder reopened. The healer came running, but just as quickly ran away when Gunnlod snarled.

" _Everyone!_ Will want to get close!" Gunnlod repeated, digging her nails into Gjalp. "I'll stick around for a while, but it'll be up to you! He's the one holding the fragile peace between the realms together right now! So _watch_ him! _Protect_ him! If _anyone_ , no matter who, should try to hurt him, use Aurboda's magic!"

"I don't know how!" Gjalp spat. She drew her knees up, aiming for Gunnlod's stomach, but the other had been anticipating that, apparently. The sheet of ice-armor shielding Gunnlod's gut scraped at Gjalp's legs, making her grit her teeth.

"Then learn!" Gunnlod barked.

" _How?!_ "

"I don't know!"

Gjalp froze.

Never, _never_ , not _once..._

Gunnlod had never said those words before.

Gjalp had learned just about everything from this witch. Gunnlod had been her mentor, her guide through life, for just about as long as she could remember. _Everything_ had been done as Gunnlod had said. She honed her skills to what her teacher had told her, and _even thensome_ in certain cases! Every word Gunnlod said was listened to, duly noted and remembered, _nothing_ ignored. No matter _what_ the occasion, there was always an answer, always an explanation...

For Gunnlod to _not know_ something... it wasn't _crushing_ , but it certainly was a blow.

The older witch sat back, sighing and forcing a shiver, causing tense muscles to relax. Gjalp felt her own pupils widen as she watched the red gaze above her.

"Unique magics tend to be hereditary. Aurboda, the witch who slew a pair of trolls in vengeance of her family... that magic she used is locked away somewhere within you. Find it. Train it. Use it. That power may be what saves Jotunheim from utter collapse."

With that, Gunnlod stood and barked for the healer.

As the healer rushed to her side, Gjalp watched her mentor leave the room in long, swift strides.

Closing her eyes, she tried to calm the pounding in her chest.


	29. Chapter 29

_"As the third prince, you're not really expected to do much. Sorry if that disappoints, but you and I are both still going to be highly valued members of Byleister's court once he takes over." Helblindi said with a shrug._

 _"Gjalp's lessons didn't really cover politics... why has he started assembling his own court instead of just using Laufey's?" Loki asked, taking longer strides to keep up with his brother. While Helblindi had shortened his pace to make it easier, he was still much faster due to his size._

 _At the meeting, Loki had decided to stay on Jotunheim, partially because it shut all the morons behind Thor up. The expressions on their faces had been rather priceless, but Loki was glad that he was being allowed to visit Asgard every once in a while. If he decided to change his mind, perhaps he could flee there and seek sanctuary._

 _His Asgardian skin had been removed. He now wore the blue-gray of a frost giant._

 _Agreements of trade and the like had been made while they were there. It was almost... satisfying, knowing that things had been done because of him instead of Thor, for once. Loki allowed himself that little piece of triumph._

 _"Eeh, really, Asgardians do that?" Helblindi remarked, looking surprised. "Well, a court should be composed of people you trust, who are loyal to you. People you work well with. Yeah, Laufey's court is familiar and trustworthy, but they're his court, tailored to fit him. Byleister might not do as well with them, or might disregard their voices on certain matters. So it makes more sense to find people he will listen to, or will smack him around some when he ignores them."_

 _Well, that did make sense..._

 _"Y'know the witch who brought Gjalp back, Gunnlod? She did a stint for our grandsire, Farbauti, at one point. She was his chief advisor, like how Hraesvelgr is for Laufey, and Vafthruthnir has been elected to do for Byleister. But being a witch, she grew tired with politics and left. Some say that if she had stayed, she could've talked him out of giving our father the casket and helped him find a different solution for the population-problem."_

 _"Then why did she leave?! Why was she_ allowed _to leave?!" Loki all but yelled._

 _"I left because I got bored, and if anyone had_ tried _to stop me, I would've beaten the drift-brains. Politics are no place for a witch."_

 _Both of them startled a bit, looking up. The witch regarded them with slit pupils, head tilted. She looked almost predatory, but then relaxed, shivering. Loki remembered how Gjalp would do similar— after getting riled up, she would take a deep breath and shiver, which seemed to prompt all tension to leave her body._

 _"You certainly look more the part with your skin fixed, princeling. Take more after Nal than that stone-foot, don't you?" she remarked. Without waiting for a response, the witch turned away, calling, "Speaking of him, tell the stone-foot I'll be hanging around for a while. That black-moon Skadi needs a talking to, and my moss-minded pupil could do with a light beating herself."_

 _Helblindi cringed at the term used to describe Skadi. Loki reasoned that it was similar to the one Skadi had called Gjalp._

 _After Gunnlod had vanished, Loki quietly asked, "Do all witches define talking as violence?"_

 _"... Most of them. Skadi certainly does... I just hope Gunnlod leaves her in one piece... both of them."_

"Frost magic. Advanced ice magic. Water manipulation. Fog magic. The natural qualities of frostbite magic. Frostbite magic and how to use it. Beginner's guide to frost magic. The many aspects of ice magics... _Dammit!_ No, no, _no!_ Fuck it all!"

"Research not coming along well?" Vafthruthnir chuckled, closing up his own scroll.

"Study Aurboda's magic, she says! Learn to use it, she says! Study what?! No one knows jack 'bout it!" Gjalp snarled, losing her temper enough to actually throw one of the books across the room. It hit one of the shelves, making it shake. "... Oops..."

Before she could leap forward to stop anything from falling— too late, anyway— a this golden sheen surrounded both the shelf and it's dislodged contents.

"Careful. Not only could you hurt someone, you could damage these."

"Hello, Prince Loki. Did the meeting go well?" Vafthruthnir asked politely.

"I suppose so." the older dag sighed, flicking his wrist to return the shelf and items to normal. He picked up Gjalp's book, frowning at it. " _The Special Complexities of Ice Sorcery_? Why're you reading this?"

"Reasons! Give it!"

Gjalp pounced, snatching the tome from his hands, and used her claws to scale the wall behind him. Once she reached a spot on the ceiling she deemed fine, she froze her feet in place and summoned the other things she'd been reading to hover around her.

"Miss Gjalp, you'll make yourself sick like that. Your shoulder still isn't better, either." Vafthruthnir sighed, tilting his head back to look up at her. She bared her teeth, rifling through the book again.

"Norns, what's her problem?" Loki muttered.

"Apparently while you were all at Asgard, Miss Gunnlod spoke to her at the healer's. I'm not sure what exactly went down, but she's now in a funk about Aurboda's magic."

"Aurboda?" Loki looked up to her as well, moving so he was almost directly under her. "That's that ancestor of yours, right? The one who killed trolls?"

"Uh-huh." she grumbled, snapping the book shut.

"What's so special about her magic?"

Gjalp unfroze her feet, dropping to the floor somewhat clumsily. The books and scrolls came down after her, settling themselves messily on one of the tables. Standing up, she explained, "Aurboda apparently possessed unique magic. Extreme ice magic, I guess. All jotun can perform ice magic on levels far above other races, but she could surpass all known limits of it. The trolls she killed still exist today. I told you I've never seen a live one— _but I've seen two frozen solid in a huge glacier, the same way they were when Aurboda was fighting them._ "

 **Black moon, the insult Gunnlod used to describe Skadi, is similar to white moon (prepubescent girl). It suggests a female who cannot have sex due to an illness in the genitals— unlike a white moon, which is clean and pure, though, it's black and sullied.**


End file.
